Former Olympic cycling champion Greg Van Avermaet wins 70.3 Ironman world title in his age group

Former Olympic road race champion Greg Van Avermaet has added a 70.3 Ironman age category world title to his list of career achievements – something he never managed to achieve on the bike.

Having taken on triathlon and gravel racing soon after retiring, Van Avermaet, now 40, claimed the 40-44 age group crown in Marbella on Sunday, completing the 1.9km swim, 90km cycle and half marathon in four hours, 15 minutes and 56 seconds.

Van Avermaet retired at the end of the 2023 season, but has more than kept himself sharp. Unsurprisingly, it was the bike leg where the Belgian made the difference – having been sat 126th after the swim, he completed the 90km ride nine minutes faster than the next best, giving him a big enough buffer in the run to hold onto the victory.

He beat Wolfgang Techner and Ben De Wolf to the winner's medal in Spain, on a great day all-round for Belgium, with Jelle Geens beating Kristian Blummenfelt to the elite men's crown in a time of 3:42.52.

Although a rainbow jersey eluded Van Avermaet throughout his very successful career, he excelled in one-day races, winning the Olympic title in Rio, Paris-Roubaix, E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the GP Montreal, alongside two stages of the Tour de France.

During his time as a pro, the Belgian raced for Lotto and AG2R Citroën, but made his name as a BMC rider. He's still an ambassador for the brand and rode a BMC time trial bike during Sunday's half-Ironman.

In his lead-up to Marbella 70.3, Van Avermaet had Mathieu van der Poel as a training buddy on several rides and one of his swim mornings, captioning the Strava file: "Getting Mathieu van der Poel into triathlon", and it's a sport the Dutchman has spoken about one day wanting to try.

Van Avermaet had already impressed at the Nice 70.3 in June, winning his age group and finishing second among all age category men. He earned his spot to race in Marbella last year, after entering the half-Ironman in Knokke-Heist "for fun" and finishing on the podium.