Rudy von Berg: Worlds bound

Heading into the 2025 Ironman Worlds weekend, Factor athlete Rudy von Berg represents one of the USA’s best options for a podium or even the win. Having taken a spectacular 3rd place with the fastest ever US time in last year’s Ironman World Championships, expectations are high for Rudy to do at least as well or even better this year.

“I guess getting a podium last year for myself was still a little bit of a surprise, but I knew from my numbers that I could do a good race. And my numbers are pretty similar or a bit better now,” Rudy explained. “I am definitely heading in with the same mindset as last year. I feel ready to go, and my goal is to finish in the top 5 or podium. I would love to podium again. Like, that’s it. That’s what I want and have worked towards.”

Not only has Rudy found a lot of success both at the 70.3 Ironman level and the full Ironman distance, but Rudy’s father also raced Worlds in Kona when Rudy was a boy. His family history in the sport and to his own results have added to the high expectations. “It’s true, if you are 3rd, it’s tempting to think every year you will podium,” Rudy said. “But every year also feels like the most competitive year ever. So it’s hard to think that ‘oh yeah, I got this, I’m going to be on the podium for sure.’ It’s very far from for sure. There are probably about 10 guys who can be pretty confident about being on the podium. But my goal is the podium because I was on the podium last year, and obviously I can do it again, especially on a course that suits me a bit better.”

Like racing at home

For 2025, the Ironman Worlds takes place in Nice, France, which also happens to be the region where Rudy grew up. “I was born in the US. My mom is American and my dad is from Belgium. After a few weeks, we moved to France,” Rudy explained. “I grew up around Nice, went to school in France, then when I was in my late teens, I did a bit of Australia for a few months and then moved to CU Boulder for University.” Being raised in southern France helped introduce Rudy to the world of cycling, riding the beautiful climbs of the Alpes-Maritimes. “This is where I grew up riding. From 10 years old, I would take my mountain bike up to Gourdon, which is a little village about midway up the main climb of the Ironman Nice route.”

Intimate knowledge of the roads used for the Ironman Nice helped Rudy take 3rd in the 70.3 Ironman Nice in 2019, something else that heightened expectations for what Rudy can achieve for the 2025 edition of Ironman Worlds taking place in Nice this second weekend of September. “Definitely racing here makes it more special. But I don’t think I’m the only one excited for a bike course like this in an Ironman,” Rudy said. “It’s not out-and-back on a toll way. It’s more fun, more motivating, and more beautiful.” And as Rudy frequently says, more is more.

“Nice is the perfect bike course because it has all of the elements of cycling. It’s still fast enough and has enough flats to be a fast time trial bike course, but it has 2400 meters of climbing, it has the technical descents, it has steeper and less steep climbs. All the aspects come into it.”

In 2019, Rudy’s success on the course came in large part to how astoundingly well he was able to handle the descents. Though there was a little element of surprise at the time, since most of his competitors were not familiar with the road, it’s still an advantage to have such deep knowledge of the route. “Knowing the region so well is a little bit of an advantage, but since there has been a lot of talk over the past several years about the descending on the Nice course, a lot of athletes have done camps here and done the downhill many times. In 2019 was the first 70.3 Worlds in Nice and at that time, it wasn’t really known or talked about,” Rudy confirmed. “So on that day, I put minutes into most of the field. But since 2023, when Worlds happened here, a lot of people have become really proficient at it.”

Ironman Worlds, always the goal

Growing up travelling to watch his dad race Ironmans instilled in Rudy a love of the sport and the ambition to reach the top level himself. “As soon as I started riding at 9 or 10 years old in the Nice region, I was in love with cycling. I did quite a lot of junior bike racing and really enjoyed the big rides in the mountains around here,” Rudy explained.

“Tri is what I always wanted to do, though. I did road cycling as well and had enough success as a junior to consider pursuing that, but I think the world of triathlon seemed more attractive than the world of cycling. I had more dreams of Ironman Hawaii than the Tour de France. Even though the Tour is bigger, obviously. But I had been to all those Ironmans with my dad when I was little, so I just always knew in my head that I wanted to do those more than the Tour. But I am one of the biggest fans of cycling. I watch all the races, and I mean really watch them, not just the recaps.”

To reach his goal, Rudy started out in short-form triathlons, developing his skillset, experience, and reputation along the way. “The full Ironman was always the goal. As a junior and U23, I would do short-course, but the dream was always Kona and the Ironman world,” Rudy said. “I also did the 70.3 distance for a few years. And I don’t regret anything. The other day I was talking with my family, and we were saying maybe I should have started Ironman earlier, but I don’t think so because it was quite good to do all these different half Ironman races, and then when I got really good at those in my late 20s, then I started going into the full Ironman. And I think that is perfect because I still have 10 years of Ironman ahead of me.”

Training at an elite level for three separate sports is challenging both physically and mentally. Finding the performance sweet spot can be difficult. “Training so much, you have to love it. You have to love being outdoors and love the process,” Rudy explained. “And also, it’s your lifestyle. It’s what you have to do when you want to be competitive. Sometimes I don’t want to go do a 3rd workout of the day. Then I also ask myself what would I do instead? Am I going to be on my phone on the couch for an hour and a half? Okay, then I’d rather go train. Short answer: it's a lifestyle, and we generally love what we do.”

HANZŌ for the win

Though designed with our WorldTour pros in mind, the HANZŌ quickly became the bike Rudy wanted to race in his full-length Ironmans. He joined the Factor family in the middle of the 2024 season, which meant his first race with the HANZŌ was Worlds in Kona. “We did the deal in August just before the race,” Rudy said.

“It was a little risky in a way because it was a new bike. The problem is not getting the bike; that was easy. It’s getting the aerobars. You need custom aerobars, because you can’t just use any round aerobars. Especially on a flat course like Kona. That would cost you 5-10 watts. I think I had only 4 weeks between getting the aerobars and the race. So not perfect, but then it worked out really well!”

Looking at the Nice course for 2025 versus the Kona course from 2024, Rudy can feel confident that the hillier Nice route should suit his strengths. Having his perfectly dialled HANZŌ and a full year of training and racing on it under his belt should also elevate his level of confidence.

“I love the HANZŌ because it’s the best bike I can use for my races. Very aerodynamic. Plenty light. Pretty easy to work on, and it’s very stiff. At the highest level, I do like stiff bikes because you feel like they are never failing you in a way.”

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Photography: Factor Bikes, @nicolacloque , @santarastudios , @orbitalstud.io