The final ‘regular season’ race in the IRONMAN Pro Series takes place this Sunday in Austria with 70.3 Zell am See-Kaprun.
After that it’s the World Championships all the way – Nice for the men, Kona for the women and then everyone heads to Marbella for the combined 70.3s.
Kat Matthews (GBR) topped the Pro Series standings last season and she looks in prime position to repeat the feat this time around – and she’s the star name in Austria.
She won 70.3 Swansea last time out which means that in Pro Series terms there isn’t a huge amount riding on Zell am See, echoing what she said at the start of the campaign that this would hopefully be a “buffer” race.
The race offers a maximum of 2,500 points towards Pro Series standings and a $50,000 event total pro prize purse – read on to find out more…
Start time and how to watch live
The action begins at the relatively late time of 11:00 local on Sunday 31st August when the Pro men set off. That’s 10:00 in the UK, 05:00 Eastern and 02:00 Western. The Pro women start five minutes later.
The race will be broadcast live and for free across multiple platforms for viewers around the world including proseries.ironman.com, Outside TV for US and Canada viewers, DAZN, iQIYI, L’Equipe Live, and YouTube among others.
And nearer the time we’ll embed that YouTube livestream below so you don’t have to leave this page.
Pro Women’s race
Kat Matthews wears bib #1 for the women.
She started the season with victory at IRONMAN Texas and was then second in the full-distance race of the year so far, behind reigning IRONMAN World Champ Laura Philipp at IRONMAN Hamburg.
In third that day in the quickest ever time (8:12:28) by an IRONMAN debutant was Solveig Løvseth (NOR) who takes on Matthews again.
Løvseth went on to win IRONMAN Lake Placid but was given a run for her money there by Austrian mid-distance expert Lisa Perterer who reopposes here.
Also in the reckoning will be German duo Anne Reischmann, who won IRONMAN South Africa at the start of the campaign, and short course star Lena Meißner.
Pro Men’s race
Cam Wurf had been on the original start list but he now swerves this race and that leaves three Germans at the top of the field in Dominik Sowieja, Jonas Hoffmann and Fabian Kraft.
Hoffmann, with three top-five spots to his name already this season, has to be the favourite as he puts the finishing touches to his preparation for the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice in a fortnight’s time.
Aussie Nick Thompson is next in terms of bib numbers, followed by Brits Andrew Horsfall-Turner and Cameron Main – Horsfall-Turner is a big contender to lead out the swim, while Main has already claimed a second this season at 70.3 Venice-Jesolo.
And an interesting name down the list is Switzerland’s Adrien Briffod who is making real waves in trail running, notching a top five at the iconic Sierre-Zinal recently.
Zell am See-Kaprun course
The race has the spectacular backdrop of the Austrian Alps and begins with a crystal-clear lake swim in Lake Zell.
That’s followed by a challenging ride on the bike course through rugged mountain roads that test technical skill and endurance.
It concludes with a scenic run that weaves along the lake’s edge, offering panoramic views of the alpine landscape.
IRONMAN Pro Series 2025
This is the 14th stop on an 18-race schedule at 17 locations which will venture to Australasia, Europe, North America and Africa. The Series has an end-of-year bonus pool totalling $1.7m, that is on top of the prize money awarded for each race.
Winners of full-distance events will be allocated a maximum of 5000 points for winning, with 2,500 awarded in 70.3 races. Those totals go up to 6,000 and 3,000 respectively for the upcoming World Championships.
Points for all remaining professional finishers will diminish based on the time deficit to first place at a rate of 1 point per 1 second to the first place finish time. There is no points minimum, or “floor”. Points will accumulate throughout the season.
The male and female pro with the most points at the end of the Pro Series will be crowned IRONMAN Pro Series Champions. A competitor’s best five events will determine their points total.
A cool $200,000 is on offer for the series winner on both the men’s and women’s side, with second earning €130,000 and third receiving $85,000. The cumulative payout for the 2025 season is €2,450,000.
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