The season Down Under continues in Victoria this weekend, with IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong attracting strong fields for both the men and women’s professional races.
Offering $40,000 of prize money and slots at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in December, the men’s race in particular looks to be a thriller between some of the sports best bikers.
In our preview piece below, you can find all the information you need on the racing in Australia, including start times, tracking and a preview of the professional fields.
Start time and how to follow live
The racing this weekend takes place on Sunday March 24. In Australia, the professional men will start first, with the gun going off at 07:32 local time. This corresponds to 20:32 on Saturday March 23 in the UK, 21:32 in Central Europe and 12:32 on the West Coast.
Starting two minutes later, the women’s race will begin at 07:34 local time. This corresponds to 20:34 on Saturday in the UK, 21:34 in Central Europe and 12:34 on the West Coast.
Unfortunately, there will be no live stream of the action in Geelong. However, all the action can be followed live via the IRONMAN Athlete Tracker App, which allows you to follow your favourite athletes or friends in real time.
Pro Men
In Geelong, British favourite Tom Bishop will start his season against a tough local field, as the Derby native looks to overcome a streak of DNF’s that hampered the end of his season in 2023.
From Australia, IRONMAN New Zealand champion Steve McKenna is the leading contender, with the Adelaide based pro lining up for the fifth straight season in Victoria, having taken the title in 2021.
Kiwi Mike Phillips, fourth at IRONMAN New Zealand earlier this month, is another former winner looking to pick up another title. The engineer is the defending champion having just held off McKenna in 2023.
Other notable names racing are Nick Thompson, who won IRONMAN 70.3 Tasmania, and Tim Van Berkel, who will both count on the home support in Victoria as they battle Bishop and co in the race for the podium.
Pro Women
On the women’s side, Ellie Salthouse of Australia is the top ranked athlete racing, and will look to sharpen up ahead of a first appearance on the new T100 Tour next month, after being announced as a wildcard for the second stop in Singapore.
Grace Thek, another Australian, was second at IRONMAN 70.3 Tasmania behind Chelsea Sodaro in her first race of the season and as the defending champion in Geelong, is another leading contender.
Dutch pro Lotte Wilms comes into the race on a podium streak, having picked up silverware at her last three races of the 2023 season in Melbourne, Taupo and Western Australia.
Third in Geelong last year, the 39-year-old is one of the most experience racers in the field, and alongside Aussie Radka Kahlefeldt can never be counted out when it comes to a tough race in Oceania.
Prize Money: What’s on the line?
The prize purse on offer this weekend is $40,000 – with the winners collecting a $5,500 share of that total.
In addition to money, there will be a total of four qualifying slots for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, with two for the women and two for the men in Taupo next year.
The total funds will be paid eight-deep, as follows:
- $5,500
- $4,000
- $3,000
- $2,000
- $1,750
- $1,500
- $1,250
- $1,000
Racing to keep up: Is social media making us train harder?
