Search
shop

IRONMAN Leeds course announced – but no repeat of Tour de France bike route

The course will be based around the north of the city
Last updated -
STRENGTH. ENDURANCE. PERFORMANCE.

In 2025, IRONMAN will host a full-distance triathlon in the City of Leeds for the first time, and the route for the course has been announced.

Home of the Brownlee Training Centre, the first purpose built triathlon training facility in the UK, Leeds is a city synonymous with swim, bike, run thanks to Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee – two of Great Britain’s most well-known Olympic heroes.

Leeds, and North Yorkshire, successfully hosted a section of the world-renowned Tour De France in 2014, and there were rumours part of that course, which saw the peloton ride through the Yorkshire Dales between Leeds and Harrogate, would be used for the 140.6-mile race.

Advertisement

Swim, Bike, Run in Leeds

Instead, the bike course will stay relatively close to Leeds with three loops just to the north of the City.

The race will be centred around Roundhay Park, which hosted the WTCS race when it was last in Leeds, and the looped formats of the swim, bike and run will offer ample opportunities for spectators to view the action.

Lewis Peacock, Race Director for IRONMAN Leeds said: “I want to thank everyone for their patience, and for full transparency, we had a course ready to go a couple of months ago, but due to some unforeseen circumstances and some setbacks with road closure permissions, we had to take a step back and re-evaluate the courses.

“The heart of the event is in Roundhay Park, which will be the event hub. The swim course will be located in the calm waters of Waterloo Lake in the south of the park. It will be two 1.9km laps with no ‘Aussie’ exit making up a 3.8km swim total.

Hayden Wilde WTCS Leeds 2022 Run
Hayden Wilde of New Zealand en route to victory at WTCS Leeds in Roundhay Park in 2022 (World Triathlon).

“After a short 300m run from swim exit to transition, you will head out onto the 180km course. The bike is made up of 6km out to Shadwell followed by three 55km loops. The course is undulating with a big chunk of the 2,500m elevation found on Black Hill Road. This section also featured on the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire.

“Once returning to Roundhay Park, the IRONMAN Leeds run course features four laps of 10km.”

Who’ll be racing?

The event, scheduled for July 27, is likely to attract some of Europe’s finest long-distance triathletes, with plenty of Great British interest expected.

In terms of the professional race it is male-only, with IRONMAN Vitoria-Gasteiz a fortnight before the women’s equivalent. Both will have three slots up for grabs for the IRONMAN World Championships in Nice (men) and Kona (women).

Jonny Brownlee admitted on a Brownlee Fitness Q&A session in January that IRONMAN Leeds would be on his radar, but possibly not in 2025: “You never know. At some point I want to do an Ironman. I’m not sure if I want to do it competitively or just do want to do it – and Leeds would be the perfect one for that. So we’ll wait and see. Although it’s probably quite a brutal one to start with!”

Jonny Brownlee supertri Neom 2024 run photo credit supertri
Jonny Brownlee wants to one day take on IRONMAN 2025 [Photo credit: supertri]

Joe Skipper is another star name that could be on the start line, he recently hinted in a YouTube video that the 27 July event is on his radar, and tentatively suggested it was part of his plans.

Stuart Dick
Written by
Stuart Dick
Stuart is a graduate of the University of Sunderland with a masters' degree in Sports Journalism. He spends a lot of his time running and cycling around West Yorkshire, England.
Discover more
Challenge The Championship Marjolaine Pieree
How to qualify for Challenge The Championship – and why it should be on your triathlon bucket list
Cadomotus aero triathlon cycling shoes
Can your triathlon cycling shoes make you faster? How shoe choice could speed up your triathlon finish times
French Riviera T100 bike course Esterel
Is this the ultimate middle distance triathlon bike course? We rode the French Riviera T100 bike course and it’s EPIC
Ironman gear guide – everything you need to get to the finish line of a full distance triathlon
Challenge St. Pölten 2024 - image credit Jose Luis Hourcade / Challenge Family
Expert swim coach on the three most common swim mistakes age group triathletes make (and how to fix them!)
latest News
IRONMAN World Championship 2024 Nice Age Group Swim Start
IRONMAN to review World Championship slot allocation model after fears raised for Age Group women
Jonny Brownlee / Jonathan Brownlee - Super League Triathlon London 2023
Did the Brownlee brothers nearly join pro cycling’s Team Sky after 2012 Olympic heroics?
Kristian Hogenhaug interviewed after The Championship 2025
Danish triathlon star highlights blistering bike split as key to The Championship success.
Alistair Brownlee - T100 San Francisco 2024 bike
Olympic triathlon legend Alistair Brownlee completes iconic Gralloch race in latest gravel test
Jeanne Lehair Beth Potter WTCS Yokohama 2025
From Olympic heartbreak to joy of first WTCS win as emotions flow for Jeanne Lehair
triathlon on your terms
Never miss out with our triathlon alerts & digest. Get a dose of adventure & inspiration with Boundless.
The 247 Group

The home of endurance sports

Share to...