IRONMAN has partnered with RaceRanger to utilize its electronic drafting detection technology across all IRONMAN Pro Series events in 2024, including the VinFast IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship women’s and men’s triathlons.
Launched in October 2023, the IRONMAN Pro Series will be contested over 18 designated event locations on the 2024 pro circuit. This includes a combination of full-distance IRONMAN and half distance IRONMAN 70.3 triathlons, including the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship events.
The series will see pro triathletes vie for the title of IRONMAN Pro Series champion and a share of a US$1.7 million in year-end bonus pool payouts after 12 months of racing.
The IRONMAN Pro Series offers an incremental US$1.7 million on top of individual triathlon event payouts, creating a total competitive pro prize and bonus purse of nearly US$6 million in the 2024 season.
Throughout the series RaceRanger technology will give event referees visibility of drafting activity and confirm when athletes are within the draft zone of another athlete. The electronic drafting detection system is powered by Ultrawideband (UWB), Bluetooth, GPS/GNSS, and 4G/LTE technology.
IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 triathlons are draft illegal competitions, meaning athletes must be separated on the bike portion of the event by more than 12m. The RaceRanger technology will assist referees with determining whether an athlete is within the parameters of the draft zone, helping enforce competition rules.
The RaceRanger device connects to an athlete’s bicycle in two areas, the front fork and the seat post. Utilizing the sensors within the devices, a light detection system externally indicates whether an athlete is within the 12m drafting zone.
Professional athletes will be able to see these lights to help them understand where they are relative to the drafting zone. Rear RaceRanger units also continuously record data throughout the race, including how long each athlete spends in the draft zone. This data can be accessed by referees and the race organizer after the race.
The RaceRanger devices will be placed on the bikes of all professional athletes racing in IRONMAN Pro Series events in 2024, beginning with the Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside triathlon on April 6, 2024.
IRONMAN noted that the RaceRanger devices will not replace race officials, rather they will be a tool to assist referees with rules enforcement and maintaining clean and fair racing. The devices will also help athletes make more accurate in-race decisions on their bike positioning. Drafting penalties will remain a judgement call by the referees.
RaceRanger is the brainchild of ex-professional triathletes, James Elvery and Dylan McNeice who were passionate about finding an accurate and consistent way to identify drafting at triathlon races.
The RaceRanger product has been in development for several years but has gained prominence in the sport recently as the technology has become more sophisticated and accurate. IRONMAN pointed out that its Rules and Projects Coordinator, Jimmy Riccitello, has been working with the RaceRanger team since 2018, with various prototypes of the product being tested at select IRONMAN events since that time.
Jimmy Riccitello said “After years of collaboration and testing, formalizing a partnership with RaceRanger and its team is an exciting next step.
“During testing at the 2023 IRONMAN Florida triathlon, we saw encouraging data from RaceRanger’s continued improvements, giving us confidence to implement the technology at the 2024 IRONMAN Pro Series races in an effort to produce an objective draft zone for our professional athletes and referees. We are also glad to have been able to work with James [Elvery] and team on developments that will allow us to receive and analyze robust data such as the amount of time each athlete spent within the draft zone of another athlete.”
James Elvery, Co-Founder and CEO of RaceRanger, said “After over 10 years in the making, this announcement really is a moment to be proud of for the RaceRanger team. As the largest and most iconic event series in triathlon, operating at IRONMAN triathlon events has been at the top of our list of priorities from day one and we are excited to support the 2024 IRONMAN Pro Series.
“It’s been a pleasure working with Jimmy Riccitello and his team since our first introductory call back in 2018. We look forward to working alongside the IRONMAN team around the world to improve the fairness of racing, and continuing to develop new functionality into the RaceRanger system.”
Matt Hanson, pro triathlete and multiple IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 winner, said “I am really excited that IRONMAN will be partnering with RaceRanger for the IRONMAN Pro Series events this year. IRONMAN took a big step forward supporting professional racing in 2024 with the new series.
“This partnership is another step forward in ensuring the race results are as fair as possible. This is even more important now with a significant amount of money on the line. RaceRanger is a great tool for the athletes. It provides concrete feedback so we can know exactly how much space to give to the rider in front of us rather than hoping we are close enough to not get slotted in on, but not too close to get a penalty.
“It takes away some of the stress when riding in a group by giving objective measurement feedback. This should also make things much easier on the officials. At the end of the day, we all want a fair race so there is no question about the results. That is exactly what this partnership will help provide.”
The IRONMAN Pro Series consists of six IRONMAN and 10 IRONMAN 70.3 triathlons around the world as well as the VinFast IRONMAN World Championship Women’s race in Nice, France, and Men’s race in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and the VinFast IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship taking place in Taupo, New Zealand.
The series was designed to showcase and reward the racing talent of the world’s top professional triathletes and provide broader year-round interest and intrigue through deeper pro fields, storylines, and broadcast coverage.
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