HYROX returns to Hamburg for the first Major of the new season, a city woven deep into the fabric of the sport and the stage for what promises to be a defining moment in the rapid evolution of the sport. For four days, from the 2nd to the 5th, the northern German harbour will play host to the world’s finest HYROX athletes, vying not just for bragging rights, but the first three qualification berths to the World Championships.

It will be a weekend of others first, too. It is the first time the Majors carry a prize purse of $60,000, a leap from last year’s modest $7,500. It is the first Major where the Elite 15 Doubles are part of the full programme. And it is the first real test of HYROX’s heightened professional standards, refined under the guidance of Technical Director Mat Lock, who has shaped the Elite 15 into a division of genuine sporting credibility.

The echoes of Chicago can still be heard. There, Tim Wenisch seized his first world title in spectacular fashion, just outlasting his close friend and three-time champion Hunter McIntyre in a wall-ball showdown that came down to seconds. Linda Meier, in the women’s race, broke through for her maiden championship in a display that combined efficiency with grit, outpacing Joanna Wietrzyk and dethroning the formidable Lauren Weeks. Both Wenisch and Meier arrive in Hamburg with targets on their backs, champions who must prove that their victories were not flash in the pans but the start of new eras.

The men’s race is particularly stacked. Wenisch has the crown, but James Kelly has the form. The Australian’s string of sub-56min finishes last season, including a 53:23 run that took him with a single a second off McIntyre’s world record, makes him the athlete most likely to force the pace. Alexander Roncevic, a seasoned Major winner and former world champion, knows how to perform when it counts, while Dylan Scott and Jonathon Wynn bring consistency and experience to a race where small errors can unravel months of preparation. Then there is Jake Dearden, the young Englishman returning from injury, who had been peaking before Chicago and whose raw running speed gives him the capacity to disrupt even the most established of fields.

On the women’s side, the intrigue lies in a three-way rivalry. Meier’s confidence is sky-high after Chicago, but Wietrzyk will be desperate to reclaim the ground she lost there in the final stretch. Weeks, meanwhile, has the most Major victories of the trio and the battle-hardened experience, but the question lingers whether she can still match the speed of her younger rivals. Hamburg also gives a stage to new names: Lucy Procter, barely out of her teens, impressed last year with her fearless racing, while Vivian Tafuto proved in Glasgow that she has the strength to hold her own in at the front pack.

The debut of the doubles format across the Major season adds a extra shine to the spectacle. Wenisch and Roncevic, once rivals, now line up together in a partnership already tested to sub-50 success. Kelly and Dearden bring chemistry and cohesion that could prove decisive against such raw firepower, while other combinations promise the kind of tactical chess match the singles format rarely allows. On the women’s side, the partnership of Weeks and Lauren Griffith will make the headlines, but with duos like Wietrzyk and Jess Pettrow offer endurance with speed, the result is far from guaranteed.

Hamburg offers more than points on a leaderboard. It’s even about more than qualifying for worlds. It is the launchpad for the entire Elite 15 season, when reputations will be tested, rivalries rekindled, and records threatened. For the champions crowned in Chicago, it is their chance to prove they are worthy of the crown. For those who missed out, its an opportunity to set the tone for the year of top-level racing ahead

For HYROX itself, it is yet another step on a journey that is continues to gather unstoppable momentum. Towards bigger stages, even louder crowds, and ambitions that reach all the way to the Olympic Games.

The Elite 15 races will be all be livestreamed on the HYROX World Youtube Channel.