Jan Frodeno and Anne Haug, the 2019 Hawaii winners, plus Patrick Lange, Big Island champion in 2017 and 2018, and Laura Philipp, fourth in Hawaii in 2019 and in outstanding form this spring - everything seemed ready for a German festival at the Ironman World Championships in Utah.

But only Anne Haug remained from the quartet of hopes.

Jan Frodeno and Patrick Lange had to cancel due to injuries.

Laura Philipp was slowed down by a corona infection.

German hopes now rest on Haug – and on Sebastian Kienle, the 2014 Hawaii winner, who is entering the home stretch of his career this season.

For him, the race in Utah is the first of his farewell tour, the finale of which he is planning on October 8th in Hawaii, at the second Ironman World Championships this year.

The first to start this Saturday in St. George is the catch-up date for the 2021 Hawaii race, which fell victim to the corona pandemic.

So first of all Utah instead of Hawaii, and the question that was discussed for months was: Will there be a changing of the guard for the men?

To the generation change?

Can the strong Norwegians Kristian Blummenfelt, 28 years old, and Gustav Iden, 26, pose a threat to the 40-year-old German series winner and three-time Hawaii champion Jan Frodeno?

Blummenfelt won triathlon gold over the Olympic short distance (1.5 km swim, 40 km bike ride, 10 km run) at the Tokyo Games and a new one at his long-distance premiere at the Ironman Cozumel in Mexico with 7:21:12 hours Set world record.

Although he benefited from a strong current while swimming in the sea, he is considered an athlete who could question Frodeno's status as a triathlon grand champion.

So far, Frodeno is the only triathlete in the history of the sport to have won both Olympic gold (2008 in Beijing) and the World Championship title over the Ironman distance (3.8 kilometers swimming, 180 kilometers cycling, 42.195 kilometers running). .

Utah is a grab bag for everyone

Even if Blummenfelt won in Utah this Saturday, it wouldn't be a flawless double.

After all, a true Ironman champion is not crowned in Utah, but in Hawaii.

That's how Lange sees it, and that's how Frodeno sees it too, who has clearly spoken out against the idea of ​​having the World Cup held at different locations in the future.

"We don't play the Wimbledon tournament in Sussex either." That means: Tennis is Wimbledon.

Ironman is Hawaii.

Another question was what role Patrick Lange can play in the generational struggle at the age of 35.

The answer to that must also be postponed after Lange had to pass for Utah after a wheel crash.

Like Frodeno, who withdrew his World Cup start because of a battered Achilles tendon, he is concentrating on the classic World Cup in October in Hawaii.

The showdown has been canceled for Utah.

But that doesn't mean that all tension escaped from this World Cup.

The first Ironman World Championship, which does not take place in Hawaii, has to do without the mythical magic of the Pacific island, but scores with the uncertainty of how favorites and outsiders will cope with the new conditions, the new race course, the unfamiliar altitude.

The 180-kilometer bike course with 2400 meters of altitude difference will shake up the field because it offers strong cyclists different options than the well-known route in Hawaii.

Utah is a grab bag for everyone.

Nobody knows what he will fish out of her.

"It's going to be extremely tough for us," says Kienle.

Same picture for women.

Great uncertainty about the dangers and side effects of the route and the tactical pitfalls along the way.

"On this circuit there are many opportunities to run the tank empty," says Kienle.

As always, Anne Haug will concentrate on her outstanding running skills, but she has to survive the difficult bike course in a condition that gives her a chance to catch up on foot.