Ironman of Vichy

An Ironman is a long-distance triathlon that includes a swim, bike and run for a total distance of 226 kilometers. After offering you the list of Ironman in France, today we're zooming in on one of the toughest of them: the Ironman de Vichy.

What is the Ironman de Vichy?

The Ironman de Vichy, in the Allier region, usually takes place on the last weekend of August in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes town of the same name. It is an international competition. Each year, nearly 4000 athletes are expected at the start on the banks of the Allier and in the city nicknamed the queen of spa towns. Moreover, the event is a qualifier for the World Championships.

The first edition of the Ironman of Vichy took place in 2011. Since 2015, the race has been preceded the day before by the Ironman Vichy 70.3, i.e. a half-Ironman making Vichy the only city in the world to host two international long-distance triathlons during the same weekend.
It is composed, like all other Ironman events, of a swimming event (3.8 kilometers), a cycling event (180 kilometers) and then a running event (42, 195 kilometers, i.e., the distance of a marathon), making a total of 226 kilometers.
The day before, the Ironman 70.3 of Vichy, is composed of a swimming event (1.9 kilometers), a cycling event (90 kilometers) and a running event (21.1 kilometers or the equivalent of a half marathon).

During this weekend of competitions, two other events are organized: the Iron Girl and the Iron Kids.
The Iron Girl is a five-kilometer foot race that is reserved for women over the age of fifteen. The circuit is composed of two loops that pass notably on the banks of the Allier to be completed within a maximum of one hour.
The Iron Kids brings together about six hundred children from 5 to 13 years old in a foot race that takes up part of the marathon course and allows them in particular to cross the finish line used by international triathletes throughout the weekend. Enough to make many children dream and, why not, trigger vocations in some of them.

The swimming event

During the Ironman Vichy, the 3.8-kilometer swimming event consists of a single loop that takes place in the Allier lake where the water temperature is usually quite warm (around 25 degrees Celsius). The swimming race takes place not far from the racecourse of Vichy-Bellerive. Thanks to its location, spectators can cheer the thousands of athletes on both sides of the river. Participants have 2 hours and 10 minutes to complete the swimming event.
Concerning the Ironman 70.3, competitors swim on a shortened loop of 1.9 kilometers, also drawn in the waters of Lake Allier. Participants have 1 hour to complete the swimming event.

Professional triathletes (men then women) start first, at dawn, then, in a staggered fashion, the other participants start in small groups, in the form of a rolling start.

After this event, the competitors of the Ironman de Vichy must join the transition area located at the edge of the lake to prepare to start the bike event.

The bike event

At the conclusion of the swim event, competitors join their bikes in the bike park. During this transition, they remove their swim gear and don their bike race gear.
Once equipped, they exit the transition area and mount their road bikes to start the bike course, the beginning of which runs along the bank of the Allier River.

The bike course for the Ironman, which is 180 kilometers long, consists of two 90-kilometer loops. The course is quite mountainous and challenging with a total positive elevation gain of more than 2300m.
At the bike course, triathletes have a total of 8 refueling stations so they can hydrate and feed themselves.

The start is along the bank of the Allier River. The start is about 15 kilometers of flat to Saint-Yorre where competitors will start the first climb towards Busset. It is followed by a technical descent where the participants must be careful not to make a mistake in the direction of Les Corres.
Now, heading for Cusset where the first loop of 72 kilometers starts which will be done twice for the participants. It is after this strategic point that the first refreshment station is located, before starting the ascent of the hill of Bruyère to the plateau of Isserpent. A descent to the Moulin de Chatel allows us to recover our strength before starting the 16 kilometer climb at an average of 3% to Saint-Nicolas des Biefs.
At the top of this difficulty, a new descent to Saint-Clément is in sight. At the top of this difficulty, a new descent to Saint-Clément is on the horizon, offering magnificent views of the Puy de Montoncel and the Loge des Gardes, which cyclists may have the privilege of admiring if they look up from their handlebars at this point.
At the end of Saint-Clément, it's time for a new climb: towards Layet de Montagne, where participants will be able to take advantage of the fourth refreshment station on the route. Then, direction Annones to join Cusset by the valley of Sichon. In Cusset, it's back to a second identical loop.
During the third (and final) passage in Cusset, this time the triathletes will be able to branch off in the direction of Vichy with very different landscapes from those seen during the previous kilometers: after the beautiful countryside and mountain landscapes, it's time to return to an urban environment to reach the finish line of the bike course.

Concerning the Ironman 70.3, competitors have a distance of 90 kilometers to cover for a positive elevation gain of 1000 meters. The circuit is identical but, during the second passage in Cusset, instead of setting off for a second 72-kilometer loop, the athletes branch off towards Vichy to reach the finish line of the cycling event.

The circuit is identical to the one in Cusset

To avoid disqualification, triathletes must complete the cycling event within 11:00 a.m., which includes the cumulative swim and bike times from the Ironman.

The running event

Finally, when athletes are done with the demanding bike course, they must go back through the transition area and bike park to drop off their bikes and gear up for the run, before setting off for a 42.2-kilometer marathon consisting of four loops around the Allier River and Vichy's parks.
The run event features a very low elevation gain, with a relatively flat course, offering a fast run.

As for the Ironman 70.3 competitors, they have to run the 21.1 kilometers split into two loops instead of four on the Sunday Ironman XL.

Four refueling zones are set up along the course to allow competitors to hydrate and feed themselves throughout the marathon. Indeed, the heat is not to be neglected during the Ironman because, in Vichy, at the end of August, temperatures can approach 28 degrees Celsius while in the morning, the temperature sometimes does not exceed 10 degrees Celsius during the swimming event.

Ranking

To earn the Finisher medal - awarded to all participants who complete their IronMan within the allotted time - you absolutely must complete all three events in less than 16 hours in terms of cumulative time.
Nevertheless, there are other time limits for completing the other events: the swim course must be completed in less than 2:10 and the bike course in less than 11:00 (including the swim) or they will be disqualified.

With regard to Ironman 70.3, to obtain the coveted Finisher's medal, one must complete the half-Ironman in no more than 7:30.

Rankings are made by age bracket based on the cumulative time of each participant in the three events. Each category includes a five-year age bracket and starts with 18-24 year olds, then continues with 25-29 year olds, and so on. Obviously, men and women are not classified in the same category.

At the finish line, for the top finishers in each category, spots are up for grabs to be able to compete in the World Triathlon Championships.

The prize list

In the men, the record of victories is held by Croatian triathlete Andrej Vistica, who managed to win twice in the Allier (winner in 2013 and 2014), after being crowned European champion of long distance triathlon in 2013.
In terms of time, it is the British competitor Harry Wiltshire who holds the record for the event in 8 hours 17 minutes 14 seconds since 2016.
The last French winner of the event was Luc Gabison in 2019.

Among the women, since 2011, no female triathlete has managed to win the event multiple times. The last sportswoman to win the event was Belgium's Helga Sibick in 2019.
In terms of time, the event record is held by German competitor Diana Rieslersince the 2013 edition thanks to her victory in 8 hours 59 minutes 48 seconds. She is the only female competitor to have crossed the finish line of the Ironman de Vichy in less than nine hours.
Since the event's inception in 2011, no French triathlete has managed to reach the top step of the podium in the premier event. Nevertheless, several French participants have managed to reach the podium in recent years.

You now know all about the Vichy Ironman. Now how about learning more about other French triathlon events like the Nice Ironman, the Sables-d'Olonne Ironman or the Ironman 70.3?