Ironman continue son expansion et applique le même modèle précédemment appliqué en Europe en rachetant l’organisateur de la Série Subaru (Ouest). Le groupe Lifesport, qui est avant tout reconnu pour leurs services de coaching est donc désormais la propriété d’Ironman. La WTC a décidé d’ajouter la course de Victoria dans sa série mondiale 70.3 même si le parcours n’est pas à la distance requise et rien n’indique qu’ils vont modifier le parcours. C’est aussi accessoirement la ville ou les élites canadiens sont censés se baser.
Cela est peut-être une première, mais la course de Vancouver qui offre la distance Ironman 70.3 n’a pas été ajouté au circuit. Cela signifierait que pour la première fois, Ironman serait derrière une course sans offrir de spots.
Évidemment, tout cela aura un grand impact sur la communauté canadienne. Il devient aussi de plus en plus facile à comprendre la nouvelle stratégie d’ironman. On rappelle que selon la rumeur, Muskoka obtiendrait prochainement son Ironman.
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IRONMAN adds Victoria to IRONMAN 70.3 North America Series along with five events of the Subaru Western Triathlon Series.
IRONMAN announced today that Victoria, British Columbia, Canada will become the 31st race in the IRONMAN 70.3 North American Series after acquiring Lifesport Properties Inc., owners of the Subaru Western Triathlon Series. IRONMAN will now own and operate all five races of the Subaru Western Triathlon Series, including the Victoria Triathlon which will become the Saunders Subaru IRONMAN 70.3 Victoria and will take place on Sunday, June 15, 2014.
« Lifesport has created a fantastic triathlon race series that IRONMAN is proud to now own, » said Andrew Messick, Chief Executive Officer of IRONMAN. « We are excited to expand our race offerings in Canada for our athletes. The Saunders Subaru IRONMAN 70.3 Victoria is the perfect preparation race for IRONMAN Canada taking place at the end of July. »
The Saunders Subaru IRONMAN 70.3 Victoria Triathlon will take athletes through a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run on a course that has become a sentimental favorite during its 19 years. The race starts at Elk Lake with a single loop course. Athletes will then begin the bike course at Hamsterly Beach, heading out onto the scenic rolling roads of the Saanich Peninsula. From there runners will take on a scenic run course around the Elk Lake trail.
« Our excitement for this partnership with IRONMAN could not be higher, » said Paul Regensberg, Owner of Lifesport. « We built a great series of races and now IRONMAN will be able to take these races to the next level. We will remain intimately involved for years to come as Lifesport will continue as the Official Coaching Partner of IRONMAN 70.3 Victoria and the entire Western Triathlon Series. We look forward to continuing to work with athletes as they reach their athletic goals at all these races. »
Saunders Subaru IRONMAN 70.3 Victoria will offer 75 age group slots to the 2014 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship taking place on September 7, in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada.
General registration for Saunders Subaru IRONMAN 70.3 Victoria is now open at Ironman.com/victoria70.3. Athlete inquiries may be directed to victoria70.3@ironman.com.
The Subaru Western Triathlon Series also consists of:
- Subaru Shawnigan Lake Triathlon, on May 25
- Subaru Saskatoon Triathlon, on June 29.
- Subaru Vancouver Triathlons, presented by BlueShore Financial, on July 13
- Subaru Banff Triathlon, on September 6.
General registration is also now open for those races at the above links. All existing registrations for every race in the Subaru Western Triathlon Series will be honored.