“There was a too large gap in payment" - Triathlete Kristian Blummenfelt insists finances are only reason behind his aborted Tour de France push

Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games earlier this summer, triathlete Kristian Blummenfelt made waves in the cycling world by outlining plans for a future Maillot Jaune victory at the Tour de France.

Although most in the know, laughed off these comments as unrealistic, Blummenfelt and his crew were defiant in their plans. "We don't go cycling to retire. We go cycling to make a difference. There must be a yellow jersey in the Tour de France, it's as simple as that," Blummenfelt's coach Olav Aleksander Bu said to TV2 back in July. "In 2026, we aim to sit in the Tour de France. In 2027 we must be in a position to take some jerseys. If we are not in a position to take some stage victories or be among the very top in the overall, it is difficult to think that we will do something magical until 2028. So we think that then we will really test it in 2027, and then the goal of going all-in in 2028."

After a somewhat disappointing showing in the triathlon of the Paris Olympics, losing out on gold to Great Britain's Alex Yee, things then went somewhat quiet surrounding Blummenfelt's cycling ambitions. Then, in September, the man himself admitted his Tour de France ambition was pushed to the back burner via his YouTube channel. 

Now, in conversation with Tri247, Blummenfelt has attempted to explain just why he's had to pull back on his Tour de France hopes, although he insists that the decision is a purely financially motivated one. “There was a too large gap in payment,” he insists. “The disadvantage of being the world’s best triathlete.”

As such, triathlon and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games is now the big target. “We’ll have to come back to this later, but if L.A. becomes realistic, it means transitioning earlier with more short-course racing. However, with the development we have seen around the tactics, involved dedicated domestique, it has become a less interesting sport from an individual level, and more a ‘team sport’.”