Norway’s defending Olympic champion might be focussed on trying to defend his world title, but his coach already is thinking of the next challenge. Kristian Blumenfelt followed up his Tokyo win with an incredible 7:21:12 Ironman win in Cozumel a few months after his Olympic gold, then went on to win the Ironman World Championship in St. George, Utah in 2022 (pictured above). He would follow that up with a third-place finish in Kona later in the year.
Blummenfelt is back in Paris looking to defend his Olympic title tomorrow, but there’s been lots of rumours about an impending move to pro cycling at the end of this year. Those rumours appear to be confirmed now thanks to a story that appeared on Norwegian TV2. Blummenfelt’s coach, Olav Aleksander Bu, told the outlet that talks were in progress with Cycling World Tour team Jayco-AlUla that would see Blummenfelt move to pro cycling in January. The team and Blummenfelt are both sponsored by Giant and Cadex.
One imagines that will give Blummenfelt time for one more Ironman World Championship in Kona, but he will have to figure out a way to ratify his spot. (Of course, if he wins the gold medal, he’ll get an automatic invite.)
Bu figures it will take a few years, but envisions that Blummenfelt could be ready to compete for the yellow jersey at the Tour de France in four years.
“We probably need a few years,” he said in the interview. “The first year will probably not be the Tour de France. 2025 will probably be more of a year of mapping, where we have to find out where we have to work. Not only with Kristian specifically, but also with the team. In 2026, we aim to sit in the Tour de France. In 2027 we must be in a position to take some jerseys. If we are not in a position to take some stage victories, or be among the very top in the overall, it is difficult to think that we will do something magical until 2028. So we think that then we will really test it in 2027, and then the goal of going all-in in 2028.”
While Blummenfelt’s power, anaerobic threshold and VO2 Max numbers are impressive, he’ll likely need to lose some weight to be able to compete with the world’s top cyclists through the Alps. Riding in a pack and time trial racing certainly shouldn’t be too much of a stretch considering Blummenfelt’s background in draft-legal and Ironman racing.
First things first, though – there’s tomorrow’s Olympic Games triathlon event to get through. We’ll certainly look forward to seeing if Blummenfelt truly does take on a new challenge in 2025.
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