“First ever PTO Canadian Open and what a day it was”, Gustav Iden wrote on Instagram after his spectacular victory at the PTO Canadian Open. “A huge victory for both me and the Professional Triathletes Organisation for getting this done. Super proud of how the day went, even though Kristian Blummenfelt was gaining a bit too much towards the end for me to have a relaxing finish with more high-fives”, Iden refers to Blummenfelt coming 26 seconds near him. “Big shout out to fellow Giant team member Aaron Royle for making the podium”, he concludes.
As usual – even after the Olympics, his message contained only five words – Blummenfelt kept his message short: “Second place at the PTO Canadian Open. Tough battle out there. Congrats to Gustav Iden for taking the win and Aaron Royle for rounding up the podium.” In an interview after his race, Blummenfelt also mentioned that the pain was well worth it, given the fact that second place still earned him a nice 70,000 US dollars. Blummenfelt had to work hard for it, though. Only a few kilometers into the run, his race seemed to be over, when Blummenfelt reached for his quad and began to stretch on the side of the road.
