It may be the start of December but there’s still plenty of fantastic racing action to come before the triathlon season draws to a close.
Just this week we have IRONMAN 70.3 Bahrain on Friday followed by IRONMAN Western Australia and 70.3 Indian Wells La Quinta at the weekend.
And that’s not at all as Sunday also sees swim / bike / run legend Alistair Brownlee tackle the infamous Patagonman Xtri for this first time in Chile while another British Olympic triathlon champion in Alex Yee is looking to better is already-impressive PB in the Valencia Marathon.
And then next week provides the climax of the T100 season with the Grand Final in Qatar.
Take a look below for just some of the star names you can expect to see in action over the coming days.
IRONMAN 70.3 Bahrain
It was a dream day in this race 12 months ago for one of triathlon’s most recognisable couples Georgia Taylor-Brown and Vincent Luis.
GTB, the most decorated Olympic female triathlete out there with the full set of gold, silver and bronze, won on what was her middle-distance debut ahead of German duo Tanja Neubert and Caroline Pohle.
She’s had what she’s termed a “gap year” at the start of the new Olympic cycle but seems to have been racing virtually every weekend recently! November saw her take fourth in the IRONMAN 70.3 Worlds and the same position at Dubai T100 before running out at dominant winner of the Laguna Phuket Triathlon in Thailand.
Luis meanwhile has had an injury-marred campaign but ninth at the 70.3 Worlds and fifth in that chaotic men’s T100 race in Dubai suggest he’s getting back towards his best.
India Lee is among a small but select women’s field taking on Taylor-Brown while in the men’s race there’s a fascinating middle-distance debut coming up for Portuguese short-course star Vasco Vilaca.
Click here for full preview.
IRONMAN Western Australia
The last full-distance IRONMAN of 2025 takes place in Busselton and the big news in the build up surrounded 2023 World Champion Sam Laidlow who should have been making his bow Down Under.
However pain in his Achilles means he’s now decided not to race which likely leaves his good friend and sometime training partner Nick Thompson as the man to beat on home roads.
Thompson was runner-up to Matthew Marquardt at IRONMAN Cairns earlier in the year and then really got himself in the mix when seventh at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice.
Wearing bib #1 in the women’s field is Britain’s Fenella Langridge, the 2023 champion here, who will be looking to put a marker down for 2026 after injury issues all but wiped out her 2025 campaign.
Up against her are Dutch duo Lotte Wilms and Els Visser, along with rising Swiss star Alanis Siffert.
Click here for full preview.
IRONMAN 70.3 Indian Wells La Quinta
There are some huge names at the top of the respective start lists but the big question this week is will they all take part?
In bib #1 for the men is Canadian superstar Lionel Sanders – he’s two-out-of-two this season after 70.3 wins at first Oceanside and then St George but he hasn’t raced since the latter, which was way back in May.
But he revealed in his latest YouTube video: “Two weeks ago I pulled my glute, so I’ve been in that annoying space where you’re training but not really building.”
And he’s said he will make a final decision by Friday this week at the latest.
Meanwhile his great friend Sam Long has been celebrating the birth of his second child recently, just after his second place at IRONMAN Arizona.
Joe Skipper is on the start list too but he’s already announced his season is over as his winter training starts in earnest.
On the women’s side Tamara Jewett and Jackie Hering are bibs #1 and #2. Hering has had a great season with two wins and three other podiums and definitely lines up, while Jewett has taken in her first three full IRONMANs in 2025 and beat Hering when the pair were one-two at 70.3 Santa Cruz in September.
Click here for full preview.
Olympic champions in action
Triathlon legend Alistair Brownlee has been able to tick off plenty of bucket list races in the first year of his retirement and the latest comes this weekend with the spectacular Patagonman Xtri.
Billed as “the world’s most extreme triathlon”, it is famous for a start which sees athletes jump off the back of a ferry into icy cold water before a stunning bike leg.
And after what is one of the hardest marathons in the sport, the winners ring the bell at the finish line and take home the champion’s “boina”, a local Patagonian beret.
“I love adventure, I obviously love hard endurance challenges, I love the natural environment and I love exploring new places so Patagonman ticks all those boxes,” said Brownlee, who added he will be “participating” rather than “competing”.
Click here for full Patagonman preview.
Brownlee is the only triathlete to win back-to-back Olympic titles but that is something Alex Yee will be looking to emulate when he defends his Paris crown at LA2028.
But the main focus for him this year has been his first marathons – a 2:11:08 saw him finish 14th in London but his latest watch data suggests a sensational predicted time for Valencia on Sunday.
Click here for full Valencia Marathon preview.
We’ll be previewing all five events in detail over the coming days and then will have all the reports and reaction over the weekend so be sure to stay tuned to TRI247.
And then the following week it’s all eyes on Qatar as the T100 season comes to a crescendo with a terrific three-way battle for the women’s title while Yee’s great rival Hayden Wilde looks to wrap up the men’s crown.
