Taylor Knibb set course, bike and climb records while winning her 4th Ironman 70.3 World Championship
Count ’em: One-two-three-four. Four Ironman 70.3 World Championships for Taylor Knibb, the latest one of the most dominant performances ever in the sport. Knibb smashed the course record in Nice by three minutes and 40 seconds, and set a new bike course record by one minute and 31 seconds, both over Daniela Ryf. Knibb is now second all-time in Ironman 70.3 world titles.
Knibb arrived in Nice nine days before the race to acclimate to the Central European time zone and scout the fearsome climb up the Col de Vence. She is consistently one of the strongest cyclists in the women’s triathlon field, but a steep descent would challenge her bike handling skills, and Knibb wanted to make sure she was prepared.
Taylor doing wind tunnel testing on her Speed Concept in May.
No sweat, it turns out. After emerging from the swim near the front of the pack, Knibb quickly took the race lead on the bike. By the start of the climb, Knibb led by 2:11 over second-place Alanis Siffert. At the summit, roughly 10 kilometers later, she led by 6:01 after setting another record with an ascent time of 29:48. The gap gave Knibb some helpful cushion to navigate the descent safely.
“After the Col de Vence, there’s a bit of a flat section before a short climb before the descent. On the short climb, another coach was kind enough to give me a split … I was shocked,” Knibb said. “And that really allowed me to not worry too much on the descent. I just needed to get down safely, and that was my aim since I still didn’t know it perfectly. I’m working on my bike handling skills and making progress, step by step.”
Taylor riding high on top of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship podium. | Photo: Talbot Cox
Knibb expertly maintained her gap through the descent, and finished the bike leg at 4:24 ahead of second-place Marjolaine Pierré. Then she motored through the run, unthreatened, with a time of 1:17:56, fifth-fastest on the day. Knibb was the only athlete in Nice to finish with a top five split in each of the three legs.
In the process, Knibb got a small measure of revenge after taking second at Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Spain last year — the only year she hasn’t won the title since 2021.
Taylor after an all-time effort in Nice. Time Trial World Champs and Ironman World Champs up next. | Photo: Talbot Cox
“I actually think this is my best 70.3 so far. And that’s really fun to put down that kind of performance,” Knibb said. “I think it’s also more special because in getting second last year, I gained a greater appreciation again for getting to win.
“I feel like a huge piece of this win is the incredible team I have behind me. [Trek Race Shop technical support manager] Mark [Andrews], [my agent] Patrick [Lemieux], and my dad went above and beyond in supporting me this week. It helped relieve a lot of stress and burden and allowed me to save energy.”
Knibb is not slowing down. She’ll spend just a few days at home in Boulder, Colo., before heading up to Montreal to compete in the UCI Individual Time Trial World Championships on Sunday. Then it’s laser-focus time on Ironman World Championships in Kona on Oct. 10. Knibb is a legend in the making, and we can’t wait to see how she closes out the year.
