IRONMAN 70.3 Women's World Championship 2025: Big four all have Kona questions to answer

The close proximity to Kona – just four weeks later – was always likely to impact the field for the 70.3 Worlds, even more so given the late implosions of Taylor Knibb and Lucy Charles-Barclay.

Knibb is bidding for a record fourth straight success in this event while Charles-Barclay was the last person to win (2021) before the American phenom’s dominance.

Both are on the start list but have surely rarely been more vulnerable – and there are plenty of rivals primed to take advantage including the Kona one-two of Solveig Løvseth and Kat Matthews who ran past them in the closing stages on the Big Island.

Read on for all the info you need ahead of what should be an enthralling race…

How to watch, start times and live tracking

The women’s race takes place in Marbella on Saturday November 8 2025, starting at 07:50 local time. That corresponds to 06:50 in the UK, 01:50 Eastern Time and 22:50 (Friday) on the West Coast of the US.

The livestream for the race will be embedded below nearer the time so you don’t have to leave this page.

Coverage will be also broadcast for free across multiple platforms for global viewers including proseries.ironman.com, DAZN, and YouTube, as well RTVE Play in Spain as L’Équipe in France, Outside TV in the U.S. and Canada, ZDF in Germany, ESPN (within Disney+) in Latin America and the Caribbean, and iQIYI in China, among others. Live race day coverage will begin at 7:30am local time.

The ever reliable IRONMAN Tracker is the perfect data addition to the live coverage too, whether for the pro races or following friends or family in the age-group events.

Pro Women

As we said at the start, there have to be big question marks around both Knibb and Charles-Barclay given those Kona exertions.

But let’s not forget that Løvseth and Matthews also had tough races in Hawaii and have each raced three IRONMANs in 2025.

No one has managed a workload – and fighting on all fronts – better than Kat in the last couple of seasons and she’s been runner-up to Knibb in each of the last two editions of the race.

Løvseth meanwhile has had a near-perfect first full-distance season – the fastest debutant ever when third to Laura Philipp and Matthews in an epic IRONMAN Hamburg, followed by victories at Lake Placid and Kona.

She was at the Olympics little over a year ago and has already won three 70.3 races so is just as effective at this distance.

Lovseth Matthews Philipp IRONMAN World Championship 2025 — Lovseth, Matthews and Philipp topped the Kona podium [Photo credit: Getty Images for IRONMAN]

Talking of Philipp, we’ve got to quickly highlight four potential contenders who miss out. The German star, winner of the IMWC in Nice last year, did intend to race but posted on social media this week: “I felt quite motivated and ready to race on a course I know well, but my priorities have shifted. My best friend on 4paws has gotten very sick, and being there for him means everything right now 🐾🤍.”

Kate Waugh has stormed her way to the top of the T100 standings against the likes of Knibb and LCB but that’s her primary focus and she’s yet to race a 70.3 so hasn’t qualified.

Olympic silver medallist Julie Derron is another to have excelled after stepping up in distance and was fifth in this race in Taupo last season but misses out this time around – as does another T100 star Ashleigh Gentle, third in this in 2024.

But there are some intriguing other contenders from the short course world, not least British duo Jess Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown who make their 70.3 Worlds debuts.

The former could give the likes of Charles-Barclay company on the swim and has already gone close to T100 glory, while GTB showed with her 70.3 Bahrain victory at the backend of last season just what a threat she can be at this distance.

In what she has termed “a year off” she’s still managed to race plenty but should be fresher physically and mentally than many in the field.

Looking at the 70.3 World Championship top 10 from last year, Paula Findlay (CAN) – who was runner-up in 2022 – Ellie Salthouse (AUS), Caroline Pohle (DEU), and Grace Thek (AUS) all return. The latest and updated start list is here.

The Marbella course

The swim takes place in the Mediterranean off Levante Beach in Puerto Banús, while the bike course delivers a challenging single 90km lap with a net elevation gain of 1,785 metres. And from there, the run features two loops along the scenic promenade.

And it’s the bike course which has been the real focus of attention. ‘Rolling’ doesn’t do it justice and it’s worth noting that the last 11 winners of this race have had the fastest bike split.

It’s where Knibb has all but settled things in recent times and with the run course essentially flat there’s every chance of that sequence being extended.

IRONMAN Pro Series and prize money

The race is also the culmination of the 2025 IRONMAN Pro Series and the last chance for professional athletes to score points towards their final standings, with a maximum of 3,000 points on offer to the winner in Marbella.

Last year’s winner Matthews leads the way in that, with the female and male winners each earning a bonus payout of $200,000 each from a total bonus prize pool of $1.7million.

Sitting 827 points behind Matthews in the Pro Series is Løvseth and the duo are guaranteed the top two spots – and though the order could yet change, it would require a huge turnaround.

Kat Matthews [Photo credit: Getty Images for IRONMAN]

The prize purse for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in 2025 stands at a total of $500,000 with the winners taking home $75,000 each for their efforts.

The prize breakdown is as follows: