While we have known for some time who has qualified for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships next month, confirmation of the super-stacked fields only came last week when the official start lists were released.

Reading like a ‘who’s who’ of modern-day triathlon heroes and legends, both the women’s and men’s line-ups have so many star names heading to Nice for the weekend of September 12 and 13 that predicting a winner in either race will be pretty much impossible.

How do you pick the winning card out of a deck stacked entirely with aces? The simple answer is that you can’t… but that won’t stop us from trying!!!

These are the six key battles that we cannot wait to see unfold when the big guns finally get to fire on the French Riviera.

1: Five-star battle in women’s race

The five best women triathletes in the world will all do battle in Nice on Saturday, September 12, when reigning champion Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR) looks to fend off what is expected to be a monumental challenge from the likes of Taylor Knibb (USA), Solveig Løvseth (NOR), Laura Philipp (GER) and Kat Matthews (GBR).

Knibb has finished on the podium at every IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship event she has contested, stretching back to 2021, but is set to race in Nice for the first time next month.

Løvseth has had an incredibly strong year since winning her maiden IRONMAN World Championship race in October last year, with her 2026 performances to date featuring a second at IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside and back-to-back full-distance wins in Texas and Hamburg.

Matthews heads to the south of France in the midst of another exceptionally strong year, with the two-time Pro Series champion having already tasted victory in 2026 at IRONMAN New Zealand and the 70.3s at Geelong and Elsinore.

Matthews knows what it takes to be in contention at the 70.3 World Championship race, having finished second to Knibb in 2023 and 2024.

2: Hometown favourite looking for big win

Nice resident Marjolaine Pierré (FRA) certainly deserves to be mentioned among the potential challengers when it comes to picking athletes from outside the big five.

A home race for the fierce competitor, Pierré has enjoyed a series of strong results so far in 2026, including a win at the 70.3 Aix-en-Provence and most recently a second at 70.3 Jönköping.

She set the pace at IRONMAN Hamburg earlier this season but was eventually caught by Løvseth and Philipp before finishing in fourth. The shorter distance will certainly suit her as she looks to secure a first Worlds podium.

3: In-form Siffert and Findlay ones to watch

Alanis Siffert (SUI) and Paula Findlay (CAN) have both enjoyed huge success this season and are surely primed for a breakout World Championship win sooner rather than later as their careers continue to skyrocket.

Siffert stunned Matthews and Charles-Barclay by taking the win at Challenge Roth last month and has won four of the six races that she has started so far in 2026, including a third Alpe d’Huez success in a row.

Findlay has always been a key player at the half-distance and came close to winning the title in 2022 when finishing second behind Knibb. Indeed, in the last two seasons alone, she has won five of the eight 70.3s that she has entered – only missing out when finishing second in Chattanooga this year and when recording DNFs at Oceanside and last year’s worlds.

Last month she won on her debut at full distance with a stunning display at Lake Placid, and with confidence on a high, you can expect her to be there or thereabouts at the front of the pack in Nice.

4: Geens three-peat or Big Blu revenge?

With his Kona hopes in tatters, Belgium’s Jelle Geens is now fully focused on making history by becoming the first athlete ever to win three 70.3 world titles in a row.

Injury may have put paid to his full-distance hopes this season; however, his pragmatic decision to accept that chasing qualification for the Big Island just isn’t going to be possible this year has vastly increased his chances of winning in Nice.

Of course, he will have the beast of Norway breathing down his neck and seeking revenge for what was one of the most thrilling, although obviously heartbreaking for Kristian Blummenfelt, races of last year.

Geens had just enough kick in his legs to edge it on the day in Marbella, but Blummenfelt is a different animal in 2026. He has won two 70.3s this season, and in recording the first at Geelong, he hunted down his Belgian rival, blowing him and Hayden Wilde (NZL) away to record a breathtaking come-from-behind win.

Such is the form of Blummenfelt that it is felt that whoever beats him wins the race… Geens at least knows he has done that before.

5: Almost too many challengers to mention

In all honesty, you could list half or more of the men’s field and argue a case for them having potential to take a place on the podium come the afternoon of Sunday, September 13.

But if we were to trim that down to ten other favourites who are most likely to challenge Geens and Blummenfelt, then that list would certainly include the other two Norwegians, a couple of Germans, a Frenchman, a Belgian, a Kiwi and a sprinkling of Americans.

IRONMAN World Champion Casper Stornes and compatriot Gustav Iden joined Blummenfelt on an all-Norway podium in Nice last year for the full-distance championships, and few would be willing to bet against them doing the same at the shorter format this year.

German duo Jonas Schomburg and Rico Bogen will be out to ensure that Geens and the Norwegians don’t have it all their own way. Both athletes have been on the podium at Pro Series races so far this year, and Bogen knows what it takes to be the best in the world, claiming the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship title in 2023.

Olympic medallists Vincent Luis (FRA), Hayden Wilde (NZL) and Marten Van Riel (BEL) cannot be ignored as they certainly have what it takes to challenge for the win. Luis and Van Riel have shown decent form this year, but while Wilde has struggled with illness and injury, you can never rule him out.

6: Is it finally time for the Americans?

There has only ever been one American winner of the men’s 70.3 World Championships, with Andy Potts winning way back in 2007… could this finally be their year?

They certainly have a strong contingent headed to France this year, with serial 70.3 winner Sam Long leading a pack that also includes Trevor Foley, Jason West and Morgan Pearson.

Long finished second behind Iden in 2021 and has not finished outside the top five in a 70.3 since 2023 – a run of 13 races which has seen him earn 11 podium places, of which seven were wins.

With Foley and West also showing impressive form this season, there is hope that finally the boys of the stars and stripes might just have something to shout about this year.

Women’s Professional Field

Bib	Athlete	Nationality
F1	Lucy Charles-Barclay	GBR
F2	Taylor Knibb	USA
F3	Marjolaine Pierré	FRA
F4	Solveig Løvseth	NOR
F5	Laura Philipp	GER
F6	Kat Matthews	GBR
F7	Lizzie Rayner	GBR
F8	Hanne De Vet	BEL
F9	Ellie Salthouse	AUS
F10	Paula Findlay	CAN
F11	Lena Meißner	GER
F12	Julie Derron	SUI
F14	Jackie Hering	USA
F15	Grace Alexander	USA
F16	Katrine Christensen	DEN
F17	Julie Iemmolo	FRA
F18	Bianca Bogen	GER
F19	Kaidi Kivioja	EST
F20	Rebecca Anderbury	GBR
F21	Diede Diederiks	NED
F22	Tamara Jewett	CAN
F23	Vittoria Lopes	BRA
F24	Kirsten Kasper	USA
F25	Macarena Salazar	CHI
F26	Cathia Schär	SUI
F27	Alanis Siffert	SUI
F28	Daniela Kleiser	GER
F29	Aurelia Boulanger	FRA
F30	Lotte Wilms	NED
F31	Fenella Langridge	GBR
F32	Hannah Berry	NZL
F34	Marta Sanchez	ESP
F35	Kate Curran	GBR
F36	Gabrielle Lumkes	USA
F37	Lisa Perterer	AUT
F38	Anne-Sophie Pierre	FRA
F39	Audrey Merle	FRA
F40	Shiva Leisner	DEN
F41	Adele Likin	USA
F42	Imogen Simmonds	SUI
F43	Lydia Russell	USA
F44	Nikita Paskiewiez	FRA
F45	Leana Bissig	SUI
F46	Penny Slater	AUS
F47	Skye Wallace	AUS
F48	Justine Guerard	FRA
F49	Amélie Kretz	CAN
F50	Bridget Theunissen	RSA
F51	Sarah Schönfelder	GER
F52	Caroline Kaplan	USA
F53	Kristen Marchant	CAN
F54	Jenna Campbell	USA
F55	Kelly Barton	USA
F56	Franziska Hofmann	GER
F57	Caroline Pohle	GER
F58	Sophie Evans	GBR
F59	Anna Buettner	GER
F60	Bruna Stolf	BRA
F61	Pietra Meneghini	BRA
F62	Pâmella Nascimento De Oliveira	BRA
F63	Justine Mathieux	FRA
F64	Megan McDonald	GBR
F65	Lisa-Maria Dornauer	AUT
F66	Lirany Gutierrez	ECU
F67	Lisa Becharas	USA
F68	Kayla Bowker	USA
F69	Annamarie Strehlow	USA
F70	Giovanna Alves Opipari	BRA
F71	Francisca Garrido	CHI
F72	Agnieszka Gadomska	POL
F73	Petra Kurikova	CZE
F74	Ekaterina Shabalina	KAZ
F75	Megan Foley	USA
F76	Diana Marcela Castillo	COL
F77	Raquel Rocha	POR
F78	Laura Mathews	USA

Men’s Professional Field

Bib	Athlete	Nationality
M1	Jelle Geens	BEL
M2	Kristian Blummenfelt	NOR
M3	Casper Stornes	NOR
M4	Jonas Schomburg	GER
M5	Rico Bogen	GER
M6	Gustav Iden	NOR
M7	Jamie Riddle	RSA
M8	Simon Westermann	SUI
M9	Vincent Luis	FRA
M10	Gregor Payet	LUX
M11	Trevor Foley	USA
M12	Fabian Kraft	GER
M14	Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen	DEN
M15	Federico Scarabino	URU
M16	Michele Bortolamedi	ITA
M17	Marten Van Riel	BEL
M18	Jason West	USA
M19	Jacob Birtwhistle	AUS
M20	Sam Long	USA
M21	Quentin Barreau	FRA
M22	Kacper Stepniak	POL
M23	Josh Ferris	AUS
M24	Henry Räppo	EST
M25	Valdemar Solok	DEN
M27	Lionel Sanders	CAN
M28	Marcel Bolbat	GER
M29	Jeremy Maclean	USA
M30	Cedric Osterholt	GER
M31	Joran Driesen	BEL
M32	Ari Klau	USA
M33	Andrea Salvisberg	SUI
M34	Nathan Guerbeur	FRA
M35	Simon Viain	FRA
M36	Luke Jones	USA
M37	Filipe Azevedo	POR
M38	Blake Harris	CAN
M39	Valentin Rouvier	FRA
M40	Nick Thompson	AUS
M41	Leon Chevalier	FRA
M42	João Ferreira	POR
M43	Lasse Nygaard Priester	GER
M44	Hayden Wilde	NZL
M45	Maximilian Sperl	GER
M46	Felix Forissier	FRA
M47	Ben Faeh	SUI
M48	Justin Riele	USA
M49	Kurt Mcdonald	AUS
M50	Morgan Pearson	USA
M51	Jarrod Osborne	AUS
M52	Zachary Bernier-Michaud	CAN
M53	Nicholas Holmes	USA
M54	David Reynolds	USA
M55	Vicente Hernández Cabrera	ESP
M56	Matthew Mcgoey	USA
M57	Andre Lopes	BRA
M58	Sam Dickinson	GBR
M59	Seth Rider	USA
M60	Simon Shi	USA
M62	Casimir Moine	FRA
M63	James Teagle	GBR
M64	Marc Dubrick	USA
M65	Enzo Krauss	BRA
M66	Martin Baeza	CHI
M67	Emmanuel Lejeune	BEL
M68	Yoann Colin	AUS
M69	Gabriel Sandör	SWE
M70	Matheus Menezes	BRA
M71	Jannik Schaufler	GER
M72	Cenzino Lebot	FRA
M73	Jonathan Guisolan	SUI
M74	Yago Alves	BRA