Milwaukee, US: Kristian Blummenfelt takes the start line for this afternoon’s PTO US Open with the barbs of Jan Frodeno ringing in his ears following a lively encounter yesterday in which the two traded verbal blows, with the German star even suggesting the Norwegian PTO #1 was fast becoming like the boy who cried wolf with his broken pre-race promises to win races in 2023.

“Honestly like, man I totally respect what you’ve done and everything, but it does remind me a little bit of when I speak to my daughter,” explained Frodeno, who confirmed this week that this will be his penultimate professional race.  “I explain to her the concept of crying wolf. And, you know, when every single time you say “oh, I’m going to win, I’m going to smash you, I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that” well, we’re waiting and we’ve waited for a while now, so I’m going to keep you waiting a little longer.”

Blummenflet’s response…“I guess you better wait two more days and then we will be there.”

Asked how much a victory over Blummenfelt would mean to him, Frodeno answered by saying:

“Yeah, of course. He’s definitely had the best season anyone in triathlon’s ever had, and that’s someone very much worthy of going up for. To be honest, however, I’ve been around for a long time and there’s always been somebody who’s there, there’s always been somebody who is knocking on the door. And I try and really focus on my race and winning. And of course, Kristian being there would add, you know, a certain charisma or a certain nice taste to victory.”

To watch the full exchange visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fx6Oj1cKk0

How To Watch The Races

The PTO US Open men’s race will start at 1615 local time and be broadcast from 1600 local time live around the world to 195+ territories, courtesy of the PTO Tour’s partnerships with Warner Bros. Discovery and a range of other international, regional and local broadcasters including DAZN, beIN Sports and SPOTV.  It will be live on Eurosport 1 from 2300 CEST in Europe with highlights on CNBC in the US on Sunday 6 August at 1300 ET and Saturday 2 September at 1400 ET. In the US, fans can watch the races live on PTO+  For more details visit https://protriathletes.org/events/how-to-watch/

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For Further Information

Anthony Scammell E: [email protected]

About the Professional Triathletes Organisation

The PTO is a new body, co-owned by the professional athletes, seeking to elevate and grow the sport of Triathlon and take it to the next level. Each PTO Open is raced over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run). The PTO European Open on 6 May kicked off the 2023 PTO Tour and is followed by the PTO US Open in Milwaukee on 4-5 August and then the PTO Asian Open in Singapore on 19-20 August. The season is underpinned by the new PTO World Rankings, helping to create a compelling season-long narrative in the sport for the first time.