Following his fourth-place finish at Ironman 70.3 Northern California this past weekend, fan favourite Lionel Sanders shared his plans for the rest of the season, as well as his primary goals and focus areas heading into 2027.

As he put it, unfortunately he’s going to be out of “all the big ones” again this year, marking two years in a row of missing both the Ironman and Ironman 70.3 World Championship events. But the reason for doing so is to ensure a proper, measured build back from this long stretch of injury, so that missing the big ones doesn’t happen again.

(The Lion is not done yet!)

What’s Next for Sanders

In terms of what’s next, Sanders is targeting Ironman 70.3 Cozumel on September 20th. He’ll be taking one easy recovery week, followed by a three-week build, and then a taper week into his next start line. He’s also hoping to hit a handful more start lines this season as part of his deliberate build back.

Sanders described it as essentially “starting from scratch” – with good muscle memory, as he put it, from his many years in the sport, but much lower tissue resilience following his stretches of injury. Building that resilience and durability takes time and patience, and rushing the process would simply carry too high a risk of another setback.

Sanders also expressed his gratitude to coach Mikal Iden for his continued support and guidance as he works toward a strong and meaningful 2027 season.

Reactions to the Announcement

When Sanders shared the announcement on Instagram, the reaction was overwhelmingly supportive. Fellow pros congratulated him on a fourth-place finish in his first start back, noting that this is just the first step while expressing plenty of encouragement and belief in what’s still to come.

And comments like, “Loved seeing you back at it!!!! The sport missed and needs you. Can’t wait to see what’s to come,” highlighted just how much love Sanders continues to receive from the triathlon community. He is an athlete who has truly given everything to living out his own personal-best and “no limits” mantra, while openly sharing the highs, lows and setbacks of that journey with all of us along the way.

 

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