It was triathlon’s greatest off-course story of an legendary swim/bike/run summertime – Kristian Blummenfelt obviously heading to professional biking in 2025 with Tour de France magnificence the supreme goal.
The Norwegian fantastic hit the headings simply ahead of his stoppedworking Paris 2024 Olympics title defence when coach Olav Aleksander Bu informed media he was “90 percent specific” to be in pro biking from 2025.
Bu stated that the supreme goal for Blummenfelt and the ‘Norwegian technique’ was to contend for wins in biking’s most renowned race, the loftiest of aspirations.
Then, a coupleof weeks after Paris came the news that Blu hadactually done a U-turn on that strategy, with Bu confessing the huge factor was the cash on deal. Remember that Blummenfelt is currently supposedly the highest-paid triathlete in the world.
So has Blummenfelt made the right relocation? Would he have grew in pro biking? We asked triathlon legends Mark Allen and Chris McCormack for their take on the course he has now selected.
Mark Allen on Blummenfelt choice
Allen, six-time IRONMAN World Champion, thinks Blummenfelt made the right call, both for the sport of triathlon and mostimportantly for himself.
He informed TRI247: “If he remains in triathlon I believe that’s a genuine excellent relocation. One, he’s amazing to watch race, you neverever what you’re gonna get out of the guy. He’s revealed that he’s susceptible, he’s revealed that he’s invincible – you get the complete monty with him.
“I think had he gone to biking, and I hope he doesn’t take it the incorrect method, that would haveactually been a huge threat – like he might simply have flailed. That would haveactually been frustrating for him and a loss for us that perhaps he left for 2 or 3 years and neverever drifted to the leading in that sport.”
Allen likewise fears that Blummenfelt might not have had the pure skill and tools to standout in the pro peloton, thinking: “I’m not sure what the intrigue was for him to go biking. You understand we’ve had a lot of bicyclists come into our sport and it’s enjoyable to see that takeplace. Cam Wurf went the other instructions and he got into biking and