TRIATHLON SEASON REVIEW: DOUBLE WORLD CHAMPIONS AND RECORD-BREAKING RIDES

Laura Philipp and Patrick Lange on top of the world, plus stand-out performances from Kyle Smith, Kat Matthews, Sam Laidlow and Hayden Wilde mark 2024 as Canyon’s most successful triathlon season to date.

After Canyon athletes Laura Philipp and Patrick Lange were crowned world champions in Nice and Kona this year, and Sam Laidlow became the first man to go under four hours in the 112-mile Ironman distance ride, Canyon can claim to have had its best triathlon season ever. 

It’s perhaps no coincidence that Sam’s record-breaking ride and the victories for Laura and Patrick came with the debut of Canyon’s new pro-only Speedmax CFR monocoque cockpit design. Sam, Laura and Patrick’s Speedmax CFR cockpit, built by Canyon’s engineers in Koblenz, has been designed to get athletes' heads, helmets and shoulders into the most aerodynamic and most comfortable position possible, whilst still giving steering control to navigate technical sections. And it immediately proved its worth.

However, the season is about more than just the world championships. Let’s look at the top results from Canyon triathletes in 2024. 

Chelsea Sodaro opened proceedings for Canyon with a brace of wins in the Tasmania 70.3 and the New Zealand Ironman before we wished Chelsea well as she moved onto a new bike partner.

Still in the southern hemisphere, Kiwi athlete Kyle Smith won the Challenge Wanaka Half in his native New Zealand by dominating the 1.9 km swim, 90 km ride and 21.1 km trail run.

With this, he qualified for The Challenge in Samorin, Slovakia, during which he smashed the course record with a time of 3:27:10.

Spring came to the Northern Hemisphere with a quick succession of victories. Canada’s Lionel Sanders won Oceanside 70.3 in the US, British athlete Kat Matthews won Ironman Texas, and Laura Philipp found her winning groove with victory in the IM 70.3 in Kraichgau, Germany. 

Into July, Sanders was arms aloft in the Ironman 70.3 in Mont Tremblant, Canada, Kat Matthews won Ironman Vitoria Gasteiz in Spain, France’s Sam Laidlow scored a win at the London T100 round, and Norwegian Mika Noodt won Ironman 70.3 in Zell am Zee, Germany.

As Autumn approached, all eyes were on Nice and Kona, home to the women’s and men’s Ironman World Championships. After an epic tussle with Kat Matthews, it was Laura Philipp who emerged victorious on the Cote D’Azur. The bike leg was where Philipp truly shone, making up a four-minute deficit on the leaders after the swim. She still managed to have enough in the tank for the run leg where she gradually pulled away from Matthews.

Meanwhile, in Kona, Patrick Lange scored his third Ironman world title, coming after his victories in 2017 and 2018, and achieving a new course record in the process. His victory in Kona came following an astonishing performance on the run, overhauling the 9-minute gap to fellow Canyon athlete Sam Laidlow. However, it was Laidlow who also left jaws dropping by being the first man to go under four hours on the 112-mile ride, setting a time of 3:57:22 on the Speedmax CFR.

In the draft-legal Olympic distance discipline, riders opt for road bikes rather than triathlon bikes, and this was where Canyon’s Aeroad CFR came into play thanks to Hayden Wilde. This year Hayden kicked off his season of wins with 1st place in the Triathlon Cup in France before heartbreak in the Olympics, narrowly missing out on gold by faltering in the final metres and settling for silver. However, he put that behind him with wins at the Supertri London in September and the World Triathlon Championship Series in Torremolinos. 

It’s not only athletes stood on the top step whose performance deserves to be celebrated. In 2024 Canyon also saw heroics from former race car driver Billy Monger who smashed the Kona double amputee world record, and from Guinness World Record holder and autism spokesperson Sam Holness who broke his personal best at this year’s Challenge Roth.

In total, Canyon triathletes notched up 16 wins including two Ironman World Championships, were metres away from Olympic gold, and broke multiple course records in the process. In anyone’s book, that goes down as an incredible season.