Triple header in Ironmanworld!
Thursday, 19 June 2008 07:52
When it rains it pours and this weekend in the world of Ironman it must be hailing with three races scheduled across the world. The United States, France and Japan all play host to the Ironman show. There seem to be more and more events each season. That said it is still very difficult to win one and the depth of talent world wide is also very good. Ironman France in Nice, will see plenty of action from the European athletes whereas Japan seems to be dominated by Australians. Coeur d'Alene sees a raft of professionals from all over vying for their chance at being an Ironman champion.
Ironman Japan
This is, we think, the easiest race of the three to predict. If you can call any Ironman race easy. The men's race should be the Mitch Anderson show with Mitch, now full time and racing his target distance, easily the man to beat. Mitch is a very tough racer and proven over the Ironman distance. All reports say he is moving well and looking to make this Ironman victory number two after storming to victory in Western Australia a couple of seasons ago. So who can stop the Uber biker from his mission? Well Luke McKenzie could be one. Luke's marathon is little sketchy but he is a quality athlete. We should also mention there is a raft of local pros who will no doubt be buoyed by their hometown crowd so keep an eye out for a bolter. The women's field is very small and Amanda Balding, Bree Wee and Sarah Pollett will no doubt be locked in a three way tussle at the pointy end.
Coeur d'Alene
This is a tough one as there is normally a good bunch of professionals flying round the course that was redesigned in 2007. This event is five years old and growing every year. Desiree Ficker is the headline act for this one as she battles some good female pros including Ali Fitch and Heather Gollnick. Rumour has it that it is mighty cool in the lake at Coeur d'Alene and this will make it hard for all the athletes to warm up during the opening of the bike. Michael Lovato and Bryan Rhodes might be the ones to beat in the men's race. It would be hard to see Lovato being beaten here but we have been known to be wrong here at firstoffthebike.com
Ironman France
Ahh Nice. When you think of that race you have to think of the legendary Mark Allen. Mark was well known around Nice for pretty much one thing, winning!. He is the dominant man here having won here a staggering 10 times. Nice is not for everyone. If you are a flat course specialist then the course profile of Nice will have you in a dark corner hugging your knees! Nice is anything but. It is a great challenge for those who want a tough course.
The heaviest number in any Ironman is number one and this year the defending champ is back. Marcel Zamora Perez is the man on this course and will be hard to beat. Rutger Beke would have to be chief rival for the day. Katja Schumacher is tipped to be the hot athlete around this course in the women's. However, there might be a challenge from Rebecca Preston. Last year in Kona Preston ran a 3.07 marathon. Even though Chrissie Wellington ran a 2.59, Rebecca was thereabouts. If she has the running legs on this weekend we could be seeing the emergence of someone to keep a very close eye on.
So there you have it. One very big Ironman weekend across the world. Look out for to see if we got it right next week.
