Ironman France
Tracy Keanaaina
Ironman France to Debut in 2002
WTC Expands Its European Family of Events
After months of planning, WTC has announced an addition to its European
family of events, taking the total number of qualifying races in Europe to
six. Ironman France will debut in June 2002, and will have 50 qualifying
spots for the 2002 Ironman Triathlon World Championship.
The race will be held in the historic city of Marseilles. Marseilles is
located on the Mediterranean and is France's second largest city. The event
will be managed by Triangle Show & Sport Promotion, organizers of the
successful Ironman Austria Triathlon.
According to WTC president, Lew Friedland, a race in France fits perfectly
into the company's long-term strategy.
"When you look at the success that Georg, Stefan and Helge have had with
Ironman Austria over the last few years, we knew that charging them with
getting Ironman France off the ground would be a good decision," said
Friedland.
"After organizing Ironman Austria for three years, we are very much looking
forward to taking the challenge of setting up a new race in France," said
Georg Hochegger, one of the principals of Triangle Promotion. "Our team was
in France this past January, scouting possible locations and we found the
perfect place for a safe and beautiful race. We're sure Ironman France will
be a great addition to the Ironman family."
Triangle Promotion has recruited a talented team to help with the event
including Jean-Pierre Francoul, former race director of the ETU World Cup
Triathlon in Marseilles and Laurent Boquillet, the former marketing director
of NIKE France and a member of the French Triathlon national team. Also
lending their expertise will be France's top triathletes Yves Cordier,
Olivier Marceau and Isabelle Mouthon.
The race course will be especially attractive for spectators and is ideal
for the triathletes as well. Spectators will be able to follow the swim,
which takes place in front of an old fortress, from both the pier and the
harbor. The bike course, which consists of two laps, heads southwest out of
Marseilles along the coastal road. At the end of each lap the athletes will
pass spectators and the transition area at the harbor. The two-lap run
course takes the athletes through the harbor, along the coastal road. It
continues past the beaches to the northwest and heads out of Marseilles.
Triangle Show & Sport Promotion was founded in 1997 by triathletes Georg
Hochegger, Helge Lorenz and Stefan Petschnig, with six-time Ironman world
champion Mark Allen serving as a technical advisor. The company's initial
goal was to hold a triathlon in their hometown of Klagenfurt and to
eventually make it part of the Ironman race series. The Kärnten Ironman
Austria Triathlon has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years.
The first race, which ran under the name TRIMANIA, had 124 starters. In
1999, the race received Ironman status and the field grew to 802 athletes
and to 1,137 in 2000. A record field of 1,500 is expected for this year's
July 15 event.
Ironman France joins an already successful line-up of events being held in
the Canary Islands, Spain; Roth, Germany; Klagenfurt, Austria; Zurich,
Switzerland. The inaugural Half Ironman UK will be held in Llanberis, Wales
on September 9.
For more information, contact: Priscilla Fraiegari,
Pris...@ironmanlive.com, or 727-942-4767, ext. 320, or Stefan Petschnig at
ironma...@aon.at.
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Nicolas Urago
The famous "Mistral" (cold wind that goes down the Rhone valley) will
probably be one of the first guest star of this event!
Nicolas.
Tracy Keanaaina <tra...@ironmankona.com> wrote in message
news:tjhjbmr...@corp.supernews.com...