Iron and gold

It was on the descent of the Gréolières that the difference was made.

Two fearless superstars on two Canyon Speedmaxs, cutting through the wind downhill and into the race lead. They didn’t look back.

Canyon’s Laura Philipp and Kat Matthews finished 1-2 at the 2024 IRONMAN World Championships in Nice, with performances built off a perfect bike leg ridden mostly together.

The duo had mastered the beautiful, brutal hills of the Côte d’Azur, and came into T2 neck and neck. On the run, Laura pulled away early for the win, while Kat overcame late cramps to take a gritty silver.

“I’m super tired but definitely the happiest person on planet earth right now,” said Laura after winning her first ever IRONMAN world title.

In taking second, Kat ensured that Canyon’s female triathletes followed Sam Laidlow and Patrick Lange from last year’s men’s worlds with a repeat 1-2 on the podium.

Laura Philipp is proof that age and athletic history is no barrier to world class performance in triathlon.

The German couldn’t even swim until the age of 24, when she entered her first ever triathlon after watching her friends race a relay event. “It took me quite a while to learn to swim freestyle more than 50m without stopping!” she says.

The rest is now history.

At the age of 37, this first IRONMAN world title is the culmination of a glittering career that shows no signs of slowing down.

“To perform on the day at the biggest race of the year you need to have such a big toolbox of skills and mental toughness to overcome the challenges that always come with an IRONMAN race,” says Laura. “You have to prepare yourself to be on the start line in the best possible shape, and in the past that’s been something I’ve struggled to do. I didn’t have the experience to bring it all together, so I think this win is the culmination of the last few years of work and experiences I’ve had, learning how to overcome setbacks and difficult moments.”

Beyond the races, Laura is a cake-loving vegetarian who was also one of the first triathletes to adapt her training regime around her menstrual cycle. She is known for her structured and considered approach to improving as an athlete, but it all comes down to love for Laura: “What drives me is pure passion for sport. I just love it. I love working out and exercising, and that’s already motivation enough for me. I don’t need to kick my ass to get out the door. I wake up, have breakfast and I just want to exercise. The whole process of getting better is so satisfying, and I think that’s the beauty of sport – it fulfils you in so many ways.”

Laura Philipp has been riding Canyon bikes since 2019, and we couldn’t be prouder to support such an inspiring, outstanding athlete.

We don’t say SWIM. CANYON. RUN. for nothing.

The Canyon Speedmax that Laura rode to victory is now a six-time world champion bike, raced by the strongest roster in world triathlon.

Born of a years-long collaboration with Jan Frodeno, the latest generation Speedmax has been developed through intense, close dialogue with Laura, as well as 2023 men’s Ironman world champion Sam Laidlow and other elite racers.

Their insights fed into a bike that has only one goal: to take you to T2, faster.

Eagle-eyed observers might have spotted that Laura Philipp was using a special new cockpit at IRONMAN Worlds.

This new prototype began with one goal: to make Laura faster and more comfortable on the bike leg.

“As soon as we knew that Nice would be the world championships course, I was really excited about how hilly it was and I thought it would suit me,” says Laura.

“If you’re not the best swimmer, at Kona it’s hard to make it back to the front of the race because of all the group dynamics on the long flat highway bike leg. But in Nice, I knew with all the climbing and descending I would have a chance. With Canyon we spoke about how the bike leg would be decisive and they started thinking about how they could give me a little advantage – the new cockpit was one of the ideas. Everyone got really excited!”

Our engineering team took Laura into the wind tunnel earlier this year, building a cockpit around her using 3D-printed parts. The interaction between cockpit and head/helmet/shoulders is very sensitive, and needs to be carefully optimised, but the gains can be great.

Once a design was finalised, a 3D-printed prototype was developed and tested in-race by Laura at Challenge Roth (where she took a career-best 2nd place). After her post-race feedback, we built a monocoque version, which Laura used in Nice.

The performance benefits of the new cockpit are multiple: aerodynamic advantages through a reduced CdA (Coefficient of aerodynamic drag), increased comfort through improved arm rest positioning, and a weight saving.

Using a course simulation tool, our estimations put the time savings on the Nice bike leg to be approximately two minutes. In the race, Laura’s ride was more than three minutes faster than anyone else.

“This investment from Canyon was a big part of me starting to believe that I had a chance to win this race,” says Laura. “If people start to do something special for you, trying to optimise your performance with extra support, it makes a big difference from a mental aspect.”

The project is proof of Canyon’s relentless performance optimisation drive, and our commitment to delivering our athletes only the finest, fastest equipment. We believe in them.

Watch out for Patrick Lange and Sam Laidlow using a variation of this new cockpit at Kona in October.