Steller pro athlete field unveiled for IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice

IRONMAN has revealed the start list of more than 140 pro triathletes for the 2026 Precision Fuel & Hydration IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice, France. The event takes place across two days, with the women’s world championship set for Saturday, September 12, 2026, and the men’s race following on Sunday, September 13, 2026.

Live international broadcast coverage of both the men’s and women’s events will be streamed via YouTube, the official series website, and DAZN. Additional regional broadcasts will be distributed through La Chaine L’Équipe Live in France, ESPN on Disney+, SuperSport, hr-Fernsehen, RTVE, iQIYI, and Outside TV.

First introduced in Clearwater, FL, in 2006, the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship has rotated globally across venues including Mont-Tremblant, Zell am See, Sunshine Coast, Chattanooga, Nelson Mandela Bay, St George, Lahti, Taupō, and Marbella. The event brings together over 6,000 professional and age-group competitors qualifying through a global series of more than 100 middle-distance triathlon events.

The event offers a total professional prize purse of US$500,000, with US$75,000 awarded to each winner. Serving as the penultimate race of the 2026 Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series, the middle-distance world championship will award up to 3,000 series points to the champions ahead of the season finale at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in October.

The course in the Alpes-Maritimes region of southern France features a 1.9km swim in the Mediterranean Sea from Plage des Ponchettes. Athletes then complete a 90km bike leg through winding mountain roads and the ascent of Col de Vence, followed by a 21.1km run along the Promenade des Anglais.

In the women’s professional field, defending champion Lucy Charles-Barclay headlines as she seeks a third 70.3 world title. She will compete against three-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion and 2025 runner-up Taylor Knibb, who will race on the Nice course for the first time. French athlete Marjolaine Pierré will race on home soil following victories at IRONMAN 70.3 Aix-en-Provence and a second-place finish at IRONMAN 70.3 Jönköping in 2026.

The women’s start list also features Solveig Løvseth, who won the 2025 IRONMAN World Championship before taking 2026 victories at IRONMAN Texas and IRONMAN Hamburg. Two-time IRONMAN Pro Series champion Kat Matthews returns to the world championship stage following 2026 wins at IRONMAN New Zealand, IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong, and IRONMAN 70.3 Elsinore. The field is rounded out by Paula Findlay, 2024 Nice IRONMAN World Champion Laura Philipp, Julie Derron, and Imogen Simmonds.

The men’s field features defending champion Jelle Geens, who won his second consecutive IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title in Marbella in 2025 ahead of Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Kristian Blummenfelt. Blummenfelt has claimed victories in 2026 at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong, IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside, and IRONMAN Texas.

Reigning IRONMAN World Champion Casper Stornes enters the race following a victory at the Mainova IRONMAN Frankfurt European Championship in June, where 2019 IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Gustav Iden finished second. 2023 IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Rico Bogen and Jonas Schomburg will also feature in the elite men’s division.

The men’s entry list includes Olympic medallists and distance specialists Vincent Luis, Hayden Wilde, Morgan Pearson, Sam Dickinson, and Seth Rider. Marten Van Riel also joins the line-up following 2026 victories at IRONMAN Lake Placid and IRONMAN 70.3 Elsinore, along with a second-place finish at the IRONMAN Texas North American Championship.

Professional start lists (subject to change):

 
www.ironman.com
 

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