- It is nearly the end of June
and the European triathlon season
is well and truly underway
with racing happening all over at the continent.
But you would be hard pushed
to try and find a nation more obsessed
with their triathlon than the Germans
because they take their racing extremely seriously indeed.
- They do indeed
and we're talking to you about the Ironman
brand of racing.
In Europe, probably the prestigious of them all
is in the heart of Germany
which is what brings us here to Frankfurt
for the Ironman European Championships.
- Yeah, now this race always attracts
some of the top stars in the sport.
Now whether that's acting as a stepping stone for them
on their way to corner
or for others to try and grab their corner slot
before the end of the process kicks in.
And that's the same for the pros and the age-groupers alike
and we at GTN, luckily,
are here to take you through, step by step,
all the things you need to know about this iconic event.
- Right on, Fraser.
- What've you got?
- Got the map here, see that there.
- Let's go.
(digital sounds)
- The European Ironman Championships here in Frankfurt
have and a long and rich history.
Indeed, the origins of the race date back to 1988
when the race was actually called Ironman Germany
and was held in the town of Roth.
However, in 2001,
WTC, the World Triathlon Corporation,
they didn't renew the license with Roth,
paving the way ultimately
for the Challenge Family to be born.
With Challenge Roth being their marking event,
still that is the case to today.
- Yeah, and then WTC settled upon Frankfurt
as their annual Ironman Germany location in 2002.
And then in 2005, it became know
as the Ironman European Championships
and this has been held here
in the Rheine-Main region of Germany annually ever since.
(upbeat music)
- As is so often the case with big city triathlons,
it's rather difficult to find
a safe swimming location downtown.
So Ironman Frankfurt brings this to here,
the Langener Waldsee, which is some 15 Ks
to the South of Frankfurt
and is actually a disused quarry
now turned into an inland beach
which is actually the largest surface water area region
in this part of the Rhein-Main area of Germany.
Now, it's a long way to the course from here, after all,
so in the summer, this is really packed.
- Now, in case it interests you,
the pro men are going to be starting
from this very beach at 6:25 am,
five minutes later, the pro women at 6:30
and then the age group ranks
are going to be starting in a rolling start fashion
at 6:40 through 'til 7:00 am.
Now, given the shallow nature of this venue,
the water temperature here can get quite warm
at the Langener Waldsee.
Now, for the pro field,
we've actually seen it being a non-wetsuit swim
where wetsuits are prohibited in the past
and we're probably expecting the same again this year
given the heat wave that a lot of Europe are experiencing.
We only need the temperatures to go above 22 degrees celsius
and it's looking pretty warm here right now.
Now, we've got a slightly higher cutoff point
for the age group ranks but again,
having a look around here now
and seeing how happy some people
are floating around in just skins and no wetsuits,
I'm going to put my money on it being non-wetsuit
for the age group too.
- Once the athletes get out of the water
they have an initial thirteen and a half kilometer stretch
taking them into downtown Frankfurt
before hitting the two loop bike course for good.
Now, this course has actually been extended out
to 86 kilometers per lap due to road works
meaning the total bike distance this year,
like last year,
is 185 kilometers.
Now, there're always fast bike times here at Frankfurt
but don't be fooled because there's actually 1450 meters
of elevation gain throughout this rolling bike loop.
(upbeat music)
- We're now onto the bike course.
Obviously, it's busy with traffic right now
but come race day, it's going to be clean,
it's going to be clear,
it's going to be closed off to the traffic.
And there's some real iconic parts to this bike course
for both the athletes and the spectators
to keep an eye out for.
The first of which:
this, The Beast.
Now, this is the first short, sharp climb of this course
and we're part way up it right now
and it is deceivingly long
and if the name is anything to go by,
it is tough.
- Now, not long after The Beast,
at around 30 kilometers into the race,
is this narrowing of the course
that the organizers like to call The Hell.
It tracks their route
through this picturesque little village
in the outskirts of the city
and coupled with these cobbles here,
creates a real Tour de France style of atmosphere.
And from my own memories of racing this race,
it gets really pretty exciting in here.
- And this is the top of Heldenbergen Hill.
It comes just after The Hell
and it is the longest assent and the highest point
of the course.
With some beautiful views,
we've got Frankfurt City over in the distance
with the skyscrapers poking up above the hills,
we've got lovely wind turbines behind me,
obviously lovely views if you've got time to lurk.
And obviously we're going to have loads of spectators
packing out this course.
We've got something in the region around 20,000 spectators.
It's going to get busy.
- The final iconic part of the loop
is Heartbreak Hill behind me
and it comes around 90 K into the course
and then again at 175 K or there about.
Now, Ironman Frankfurt is not the only place
to have a Heartbreak Hill.
Ironman Switzerland has one in Zurich too
and has had it there for many years
and much like in Switzerland,
there's a real party zone atmosphere
that gets created here
'cause fans can see their athletes at lowest speeds
and there's just a superb atmosphere
gets built up as the day goes on.
Now, due to the super smooth and fast roads
out on this bike course plus the run course
that around the River Main is virtually flat,
Ironman Frankfurt is renowned
for producing extremely fast times across the board.
Indeed, in 2015 Jan Frodeno reduced the course record
to 7 hours, 49 minutes, and 48 seconds
and the womens' winner in that year
was Switzerland's Daniela Ryf.
Now, fast forward to 2018 and those same repeat winner,
Jan Frodeno in the mens side and Daniela Ryf
did the same again
but with Daniela Ryf reducing the womens' course record
to a quite staggering 8 hours, 38 minutes,
and 44 seconds.
And that was with a bike course that was 5 kilometers long
as it will actually be again this year.
(upbeat music)
Now, once the athletes have completed
their 185 kilometer bike ride,
they tackle a four lap marathon course here
around the River Main in the heart of downtown Frankfurt
with impressive business district skyline as the backdrop.
There is barely a hundred meters
of elevation gain in this course so it is virtually flat
meaning that fast splits for the marathon
are a real possibility here this weekend.
- The run crossing over the river on two occasions per lap,
it provides an excellent opportunity for spectators
to follow their athletes out on course
which gets absolutely packed with spectators
particularly here along the riverbanks
and from what I understand and I've seen,
it is impressive.
Now, given that Frankfurt is a regional championship event,
it is also with a significantly higher number
of qualifying slots for the athletes for code
when compared to a regular Ironman event.
And this comes with 80 slots for the age group categories
proportionally divide amongst the men's and the women's
and going by previous years,
this has been around 65 for the men's
and 15 for the women's.
Now on the pro's side, we've got six slots in total,
two going to the men, two to the women,
and then additional extra two floating spots
which will either go to the men or the women
depending on the size of the fields.
And then, in terms of the prize money for the pros,
well this is slightly bigger as well
in the same way we've got these extra slots.
So we've got a total prize purse of 150,000 euros
with the winner,
of both the men's and the women's taking home
a whopping 30,000 euros.
- The one last hurrah of the Ironman Frankfurt course
is when they finish the marathon,
athletes get funneled into this iconic square
and these temporary stands
that you can see getting built behind us
will be full come race day
and I can guarantee that from the first finisher
to the very last, it will be electric in here.
- Yeah, well we reckon that that is everything
you need to know ahead of Ironman Frankfurt
this coming weekend and given the lineup,
it's going to be some hot racing,
maybe as hot as the weather here in Central Europe.
- We are really looking forward to being here
to see who's actually going to win
in Ironman Frankfurt come race day.
- Yeah, now, if you like this video,
please do hit that thumbs up button
and if you'd like to see more from GTN,
you can hit that globe, subscribe to the channel.
If you'd like to see our mount and dismount video
and like the pros, click down there.
- And if you want to see a video we did
about Sarah True, 'cause she's racing here,
you can get that here.