Taylor Knibb, the winner in each of the last three years, tops the recently-released start list for the women’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Marbella on Saturday 8th November.

Start lists always need to be taken with a pinch of salt or at least labelled as ‘provisional’ and that’s very much the case here as the race will come exactly four weeks after American star Knibb came to a standstill deep into the run when looking set for victory in the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona.

The searing heat and humidity led to the heart-breaking end for Knibb and she could only sit on the roadside and watch helplessly as Norway’s Solveig Løvseth ran past on her way to victory.

It was a similar situation for Britain’s Lucy Charles-Barclay, also a 70.3 Worlds winner, a little earlier in that race so it remains to be seen whether than duo recover quickly enough to line up in Spain.

RELATED CONTENT: Click here for full men’s start list

Kat in pole position

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 Kat Matthews (GBR) 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.

Matthews finished runner-up to Knibb at both the 2023 and 2024 70.3 World Championships and was a close-up second in Kona last month.

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.

GTB makes 70.3 Worlds debut

Fellow IRONMAN World Champion Laura Philipp (DEU) also joins the star-studded start list in Marbella. She has previously podiumed at the 70.3 World Championship (2017) and has twice won IRONMAN 70.3 Marbella.

Other challengers set to line up in Marbella include 2024 70.3 World Championship top 10 finishers Paula Findlay (CAN) – who was runner-up in 2022 – Ellie Salthouse (AUS), Caroline Pohle (DEU), and Grace Thek (AUS).

Meanwhile, British Olympic gold medallists Georgia Taylor-Brown and Jess Learmonth will make their 70.3 World Championship triathlon debuts in Marbella, with the former posting “Oh Lordy” when IRONMAN posted the start list on social media!

Women’s provisional start list – Sat 8th Nov

Bib Number	First Name	Last Name	Country Represented
1	Taylor	Knibb	USA
2	Kat	Matthews	GBR
3	Lucy	Charles-Barclay	GBR
4	Paula	Findlay	CAN
5	Ellie	Salthouse	AUS
6	Caroline	Pohle	DEU
7	Grace	Thek	AUS
8	Laura	Philipp	DEU
9	Marta	Sanchez	ESP
10	Solveig	Løvseth	NOR
11	Georgia	Taylor-Brown	GBR
14	Jackie	Hering	USA
16	Danielle	Lewis	USA
17	Laura	Jansen	DEU
18	Regan	Hollioake	AUS
20	Marjolaine	Pierré	FRA
21	India	Lee	GBR
22	Jess	Learmonth	GBR
23	Lisa	Perterer	AUT
24	Katrine Græsbøll	Christensen	DNK
25	Lizzie	Rayner	GBR
26	Lydia	Russell	USA
28	Marlene	De Boer	NLD
29	Cecilia	Perez	MEX
30	Bianca	Bogen	DEU
31	Maja	Stage Nielsen	DNK
34	Charlene	Clavel	FRA
35	Anna	Bergsten	SWE
36	Nina	Derron	CHE
37	Megan	McDonald	GBR
38	Hanne	De Vet	BEL
39	Rebecca	Anderbury	GBR
40	Rachel	Brown	GBR
41	Djenyfer	Arnold	BRA
42	Romina	Palacio	ARG
43	Sif	Madsen	DNK
44	Milan	Agnew	AUS
45	Macarena	Salazar Ezquerra	CHL
46	Nicole	Van Der Kaay	NZL
47	Jeanne	Collonge	FRA
49	Lisa	Becharas	USA
50	Sara	Svensk	SWE
51	Luisa	Iogna Prat	ITA
52	Lena	Meißner	DEU
54	Adele	Likin	USA
56	Jess	Smith	USA
57	Emilie	Morier	FRA
59	Solenne	Billouin	FRA
60	Kristen	Marchant	CAN
61	Laura	Addie	GBR
62	Freya	McKinley	USA
63	Mariella	Sawyer	ZAF
65	Bridget	Theunissen	ZAF
66	Carolyn	Olsen	USA
67	Caroline	Kaplan	USA
68	Sandra	Huon	FRA
69	Michelle	Stratton	USA
70	Francisca	Garrido	CHL
71	Tanja	Neubert	DEU
72	Hannah	Sakaluk	USA