Kiwi long-course legend Braden Currie is ready to race for the win this weekend at the men’s IRONMAN World Championship in Nice.
Currie was a terrific third at the delayed 2021 staging of the race, which took place in St George in May 2022. Now he is looking for better on the Cote d’Azur on Sunday.
Coming off a strong domestic season which included a second-place finish on home turf at IRONMAN New Zealand before a course record win at IRONMAN Cairns, Currie has been going well at altitude in St Moritz in the build-up to Nice.
With a stellar swim, strong bike and fantastic run in his arsenal, Braden should not be underestimated by any of his competitors on Sunday. And after 10 long years dedicated to the sport, he is raring to go on a course which he believes plays right into his strengths.
Braden Currie on IMWC Nice preparation
Talking through his build-up to this weekend, Currie has spent time in Noosa, Australia and then in St Moritz, Switzerland preparing for raceday before travelling out to the Côte d’Azur two weeks out to get a feel for the course.
“Things are going really well, we’ve had a bit of a buildup this year. We had a block in Noosa, Australia, after racing IRONMAN Cairns, and managed to get a really good six-week training block in there,” he explained.
“Then we flew to Europe and based ourselves in St. Moritz at altitude for just over three weeks. That was probably some of the most amazing training I’ve ever had, actually, it’s an incredible place.
“We are now in Nice and arrived here two weeks out from the World Champs. We’re spending our last little bit of time here getting to know the course and just getting used to the environment. Things are going good, we’re injury-free at the moment and we are healthy, touch wood.”
Sharing his thoughts on the course, Currie believes the bike profile shares similarities with the rolling hills he was able to ride so well in St George, and says the terrain in the South of France looks perfectly suited to his strengths.
“I like an interesting course. It’s (the bike course) a 180K time trial. Being one of the smaller athletes, I like to think that I have the ability to climb pretty well. I know that in St. George, that rolling terrain and climb seemed to work quite well for me. This course is definitely all of that. It’s hilly, it’s dynamic, it’s got lots of bends, lots of corners.”
Currie has podium aim, victory dream
Explaining what would be a good result in Nice, Currie first said that getting back on the podium would be a successful race, but then added that the ultimate goal is to try to win.
“A successful race for me, I would love to get back on the podium here. Always the goal is to try and race for the win, really. I’ve been close, obviously, last year in St. George, and I feel like this course is pretty similar too. I’ll definitely be pushing hard all day, but I’ll be happy to be out there on the podium and again, racing the world’s best.
“It’s going to be an interesting race, I think it’s probably not the depth of swimmers to blow the field apart, but then I do think the swimmers that are there will want to separate the race a little bit from some of the very, very strong cyclists that are getting faster at swimming. I think the swim hopefully will be nice and strong and hopefully we’ll get a bit of a gap out of the water.
“I think the bike course is going to be pretty relentless in a way. Just the climbs allow for people to really give it. It’s going to be quite dynamic. I think there’ll be a lot of people who will probably ride too hard early on and really struggle to get through the flat sections or the undulating sections at the top of the course before the main descent and may lose a good bit of time there.
“Then for me, I guess the dream is that coming off the bike in that top five and within the reach of the number one spot. I think with my run form and my run earlier in the year at Cairns, if I can pull something similar off to that, then we should be in for a good result.”
Now the acid test awaits on Sunday, and Currie believes he is ready for the greatest challenge of all.
“It’s something that I’ve applied the last 10 years in my life towards. I personally feel like it’s within my reach. I personally feel like I’ve got the ability and skill to do this. We’ve definitely applied ourselves to it and committed to it. I think it would just be an incredible feeling to achieve it and take it off,”
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