Lionel Sanders on his way back – but Nice too soon so sights set on new targets

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The good news is that this weekend should see Canadian superstar Lionel Sanders run non-stop for the first time in 10 weeks.

He’s had a well-documented spell out of action – a gluteal issue, potentially caused by the diet-related condition known as Relative Energy Deficiency, or RED-S, and a sacral stress fracture means he hasn’t raced since early May.

That was when he won IRONMAN 70.3 George to make it two victories from two races following 70.3 Oceanside in April.

Starting over

But the bad news is that the men’s IRONMAN World Championship in Nice in mid-September is now off the agenda.

In truth that’s probably no big surprise as timescales were simply getting too tight.

Writing on Instagram, he said: “It’s been just over 10 weeks of patience and rehab and slowly loading up the body.

“Today was likely my last walk-jog and this weekend I intend to run continuous again.

“Nothing helps cultivate gratitude like a stress fracture.

“I’m extremely grateful to have healed properly, and I’m excited to start the base build of the season over again, with my sights set on 70.3 Worlds and a late season Ironman.”

Dual aim

We reached out to him and his team to make sure that our reading of the post was correct and they confirmed that to be the case.

The 70.3 Worlds this year are in Marbella in November.

And while Sanders has had this enforced spell on the sidelines, it does at least mean he will be fresher than many others at the 70.3 Worlds who by then could also have taken part in the IRONMAN World Championship and / or the T100 Triathlon World Tour.

A “late season Ironman” would also raise the possibility of the popular Canadian ticking off his qualification for the 2026 IMWC in Kona.

Lionel Sanders wins 70.3 St George 2025 photo credit Getty Images for IRONMAN — Lionel Sanders wins 70.3 St George [Photo credit: Getty Images for IRONMAN]

Written by

Jonathan Turner

Jonathan Turner is News Director for both TRI247 and RUN247, and is accustomed to big-name interviews, breaking news stories and providing unrivalled coverage for endurance sports.

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