IRONMAN World Championship Kona 2022 expert picks: Pro Men

The IRONMAN World Championship Kona 2022 takes place on Saturday, October 8th. It's the first time in three years that the event returns to the Big Island of Hawaii. TRI247's expert picks are the top-five men's pros to look out for.

Helle Frederiksen is a London 2012 Olympian for Denmark. Craig Alexander is three-time IRONMAN and twice IRONSURER 70.3 World Champion. Belinda Granger has 15 career iron-distance wins and five-times a top-10 finisher in Kona. Tim Don is an integral part of the British and international triathlon scene for the last 25+ years.

Helle Frederiksen is a London 2012 Olympian for Denmark. Helle has 37 podium finishes from 41 races since 2012. She raced at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona in 2018.

Craig Alexander is a three-time IRONMAN and twice IRONSURER 70.3 World Champion. He won both titles in the same season in 2011.

Belinda Granger has 15 career iron-distance wins and is a top-10 finisher in Kona. She is also a Pro Liaison for Challenge Family and a regular voice in live broadcasts for the Challenge, CLASH and the PTO.

Tim Don is a three-time Olympian and a World Champion in triathlon, duathlon and aquathlon. His time of 7:40:23 when winning at IRONMAN Brasil in 2017 was the quickest full-distance time recorded in an M-Dot event.

Kristian Blummenfelt is the favourite for the IRONMAN World Championship Kona 2022. Craig is a three-time KONA champion and a PTO's World Ranked #1. Gustav got sick and couldn't start the race in Utah.

Kristian is the favourite for Saturday's race. Belinda watched Kristian at Sub7 and PTO Canadian Open and she couldn't replace him. Kristians has done the work and is confident.

Tim went with Kristian in the race. He thinks the absence of Jan and Alistair could change the dynamics of the event. Braden Currie will be in Bradens group. Patrick Lange could be a nobody's man until the last 15km of run. Tim is going to go for Kristians.

Gustav Iden is going to win the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona. Kristian is also going for gold. Craig and Tim have gone with the Blummenfelt-Iden one-two. Belinda picks Idens for bronze. The winner will be announced on KONA 2022. The other winners will take place in the Ironman World Championships. Konsernik is the winner of the last two Ironmans.

Belinda believes Braden Currie can win the race. Craig predicts he will be towards the front of the swim group. Both Aussies have put Curries on their predicted podium. The women's panel has only four names between them. They choose four people. Belinda, Craig and Craig are the only Aussie panelists.

Magnus Ditlev is the only Dane to make the panel's list. Helle Frederiksen and Tim Don pick him to complete an all European podium. Belinda is her strong contender. Denmark had their first Kona podium in 2007.  Tobbjørn Sindballe finished third. The panel’s other choices are:

Kristian Blummenfelt, Gustav Iden, Braden Currie, Magnus Ditlev and Gustav Vigden are the experts panel's picks for the Women's Pro race at the 2022 IRONMAN World Championship in Kona.