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Press release:
Ironman France will take place on 22 June 2008 and will probably be the largest Ironman world wide. In only three years, this long distance triathlon on the Côte d’Azur has become one of the most popular Ironman events attracting 2500 athletes hoping to become a Finisher on the Promenade des Anglais.
Ironman France will take place on 22 June 2008 in Nice and the surrounding countryside. The record number of 2500 participants will complete 3.8km swimming, 180km cycling and a marathon of 42.195km. The event will distribute 50 of the coveted slots for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.
The race will start will at 6h30 on the Nice beach. Athletes have to finish the race within a time limit of 16 hours. The fastest athletes will cross the Finishline after 8 hours of racing while the last finishers will arrive around 22h30 - just inside the cutoff time. The finishline is located on the famous Promenade des Anglais, where numerous speakers and DJ’s host a varied program full of atmosphere for the athletes and some 70.000 spectators all day long.
99% of the participants are age group athletes and only a fraction are professional athletes. Athletes’ ages range from 19 to 70 years of age, with an average age of 38 years. Eight percent are female. Every single athlete crossing the finishline is celebrated like a hero at Ironman France, regardless of their finish time.
The stars of the 2008 edition will be twice winner Marcel ZAMORA (ESP, 2006 and 2007) and the French pro’s Hervé FAURE (winner 2005), Julien LOY, Xavier LEFLOCH and the former cyclist Laurent JALABERT, who will give the Ironman a try for the first time in his mother country. On the female side, Erika CSOMOR (HUN) and Alexandra LOUISON (FRA, winner 2007) will be competing.
Nice has become the host of Ironman France in 2005. Nice has a long history of triathlon with the Triathlon International de Nice which was replaced by the Ironman, and the city of Nice has always been attached to sport in general, and to triathlon in particular.
Today, after only three years, Ironman France has become one of the largest triathlons world wide attracting 2500 athletes from more than 50 countries. After France with more than a third of the participants, the most represented nationalities are Great Britain, the United States, Germany, Spain and Italy.
Ironman France belongs to the international series sanctioned by WTC (World Triathlon Corporation). There are 21 events, all of which give qualifying places to the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii in October.
Ironman France is organized by Triangle France s.a.r.l., a subsidiary of Triangle International. Triangle is the most internationally active Ironman organizer. With four offices and six Ironman and Ironman 70.3 races on two continents, more than 13.000 athletes finish their races each year. Triangle France s.a.r.l. was founded in 2004 in order to bring this most exciting long distance triathlon race to the Côte d’Azur. Today, the Triangle France team lead by former pro athlete Yves Cordier consists of 6 staff while hosting up to 8 interns and builds to a team of 60 team directors in the race month with 1500 volunteers on race day.
Triangle France is happy to have given back to the Triathlon de Nice all the acclaim that the event merits.
IRONMAN France – Nice Triathlon
22 June 2008
3.8km SWIM | 180km BIKE | 42.195km RUN
50 qualifying slots for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii
16 hours and more of show & sports on race day
Entries closed 5 months before race day
IronmanFrance.com
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