This is a preview for the IRONMAN European Championship in Hamburg, which was won by American Jackie Hering ahead of Denmark’s Maja Stage Nielsen and German Daniela Bleymehl.
The second full distance race of the IRONMAN Pro Series takes place this weekend, with IRONMAN Hamburg hosting a top female professional field in a race which doubles as the European Championship.
A hub of triathlon, Hamburg will see thousands of age-group athletes race alongside the professional women, as triathletes from around the world compete for qualifying slots to the 2024 IRONMAN World Championship in Nice or Kona.
In our preview below, you can find all the details you need, including start times, streaming information and which women to watch out for in the race for the European title.
Start times and how to watch live
IRONMAN Hamburg will take place on Sunday June 2. The professional race begins at 06:15 local time, which corresponds to 05:15 in the UK, 00:15 on the East Coast and 21:15 on the West Coast on Saturday June 1.
The race will be broadcast live, with the broadcast beginning at 06:00 local time. Coverage will be available via Dazn, L’Equipe Live, Outside TV and the IRONMAN Pro Series website.
As always, the ever reliable IRONMAN Tracker is the perfect data addition to support your viewing. If you haven’t got it on your phone already, where have you been?!
Pro Women
With a field of 31 professional athletes, the start list in Hamburg isn’t the biggest we have seen so far this season, but the quality is undeniable, with Britain’s Kat Matthews wearing #1.
Matthews, who bounced back from a calf tear to take a major win at IRONMAN Texas last month, which was her second successive IRONMAN North American Championship title, has her sights set on the IRONMAN Pro Series in 2024.
This weekend, the former British Army Physio will chase a second continental title of the season, as she also looks to cement her standing in the series against some familiar foes in Germany.
Maja Stage Nielsen, who Matthews hunted down on the run at IRONMAN Texas last year, will be lining up on Sunday, with the Dane chasing a first podium of 2024 in the Gateway to the World.
Another athlete chasing a first podium of 2024 is Britain’s Fenella Langridge, who finished sixth, one place ahead of Nielsen, at IRONMAN Texas back in April.
Having taken her first IRONMAN win late last year in Western Australia, Langridge will be a favourite for the podium in Hamburg, and along with Matthews, will look to put down a marker before gearing up for Nice in September.
Daniela Bleymehl, who has some famous victories on home turf including Challenge Roth in 2018, will aim to bounce back after a DNF in IRONMAN South Africa last month, and is another podium favourite.
Finally, American Jackie Hering and Swedish star Sara Svensk will be two athletes worth keeping an eye on, in particular Hering, who can run her way on to the podium in Hamburg on her day.
Prize Money: What’s on the line?
The prize purse on offer this weekend is $87,500 – with the winner collecting a $28,000 share of that total.
As part of the IRONMAN Pro Series, athletes will also earn points as they seek to become the IRONMAN Pro Series Champion and win a share of the $1.7 million bonus prize purse.
In Hamburg, the maximum possible score will be 5,000 points for 1st place, with points for all remaining professional finishers diminishing based on the time deficit to first place, at a rate of 1 point per 1 second deficit to the winner’s finishing time.
In addition to money and series points, there will be a total of six qualifying slots for the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice later this season.
The total funds will be paid ten-deep, as follows:
- $28,000
- $17,500
- $11,000
- $8,500
- $6,500
- $5,000
- $3,500
- $3,000
- $2,500
- $2,000
Racing to keep up: Is social media making us train harder?
