Matthew Marquardt was the big winner on a weekend dominated by Trek triathletes
Matthew Marquardt headlined a banner weekend for Trek Factory Racing’s triathletes. The full-time medical student/full-time triathlon pro/part-time mountain biker won his third-ever full-length Ironman in South Africa on Sunday, smashing Magnus Ditlev’s course record as he put nearly 14 minutes into second place.
Marquardt posted the fastest bike and run legs of the race. Most importantly, he didn’t cramp. He had a big 2025 despite battling leg-seizing cramps at the start of the bike in every race he entered. No such issues so far, and now he has perhaps the most impressive performance of his career to show for it.
“This was the first race that I’ve done in almost 18 months where I had no cramping problems,” Marquardt said after the race. “I tried to have a very even-split race and not do anything too crazy or too heroic, because I knew that as long as I could stay steady, that I would be able to bring home the title and to be able to set a new course record by almost two minutes over Magnus, who demolished the course record last year.
“It’s super exciting, and makes me really excited about the rest of the season.”
Matthew Marquardt posted the fastest bike AND run of the race. | Photo: @sportograf
Marquardt emerged sixth from the water and proceeded to track down the race leaders. Within roughly 30-40 minutes on the bike, he had only Jamie Riddle in his sights. He needed a couple hours to make the final catch, but when he did, he steadily pushed his lead until he was out front by roughly two minutes at the second transition.
Nobody put time into Marquardt during the final leg. He put together a complete performance, which, as always, boggles the mind all the more when you consider what his life is like off the course. A month ago, Marquardt was completing Cape Epic, one of the most difficult mountain bike stage races in the world. Ten days ago, he completed his Step 2 exam, which is considered one of the most difficult and grueling tests in the long process of completing med school.
The crowd goes wild for Marquardt after his third-career full-Ironman win.
Safe to say, Marquardt was anything but “fresh” heading into South Africa. With a little more time to rest (and oh yeah, his spot for Ironman World Championships in Kona secured) he has big goals in mind for the rest of 2026.
“I’m quite happy that I was able to perform at the level that I was, and to put together the performance that I did,” Marquardt said. “And so now that those things are behind me, I can focus on those weaknesses, and hopefully be even stronger for my next race, which will be 70.3 Happy Valley in mid June, and then Lake Placid after that.”
Marten Van Riel laying down a blistering bike in Texas.
Taylor Knibb and Marten van Riel take second in stacked Ironman Texas fields
Back in the United States, Taylor Knibb and Marten van Riel — two of the most dominant middle-distance triathletes in the world — proved they can hang with the very best in a full-length Ironman, too. They took second in the women’s and men’s races at Ironman Texas, respectively, in a race that featured many names that will also be vying for the podium in Kona.
Only 2025 Ironman World Champion Solveig Løvseth got the better of Knibb, and Knibb made her work hard for the win. Unsurprisingly, Knibb took over the front of the race almost immediately on the bike, putting her high-powered rivals at bay. She got off the bike over a minute before Løvseth in what had become a two-woman race. (Kat Matthews, another favorite to win, dropped out of contention due to a puncture.)
Løvseth and Knibb were running side by side by the five-mile mark of the marathon, then Løvseth showed her power and gradually put distance into Knibb to win the race by 3:39. Knibb finished more than 15 minutes ahead of third-place Marta Sánchez, demonstrating just how strong the lead duo was.
Van Riel’s silver performance came in what Tri247 called “the strongest men’s field that has ever lined up outside of a World Championship race.” Seven of the top nine finishers at last year’s Ironman World Championship in Nice took the start at The Woodlands. And Van Riel was faster than all of them except one of the best triathletes ever in Kristian Blummenfelt.
Van Riel was the first man out of the first transition, and he remained in the lead group throughout the bike and into the run. As a middle-distance specialist, it was uncertain how he’d hold up over the course of a full marathon. But he looked the part of an all-out Ironman, picking off rivals and finding himself first on the course with roughly 13 miles left.
Van Riel held a steady gap on the hard-charging Blummenfelt for a long time, but Blummenfelt’s strength was undeniable in the last six miles. He eventually finished 1:32 ahead of Van Riel in a brilliant finish.
With their results, Knibb and Van Riel proved that they’ll be forces to be reckoned come Kona in October. We can’t wait to see how they up their game in the meantime.
