Two-time Ironman UK champion Joe Skipper will take centre stage at Ironman Wales this Sunday
Joe Skipper looking for his first Ironman win this season at Ironman Wales and will have to beat French duo, William Mennesson and Leon Chevalier, to do so.
The 10th edition of IRONMAN Wales is set to take place this Sunday, 11 September 2022, after a two-year hiatus. The event will be celebrating ten years of racing since its inaugural event in 2011.
Wearing bib number one in the men’s professional field, Joe Skipper, will be looking for his first IRONMAN victory this year. After just missing out on a podium spot earlier this year in South Africa at the IRONMAN African Championship, and a DNF at IRONMAN France Nice, Skipper will be eager to sign his name under this year’s IRONMAN champions. Skipper is no stranger to winning on UK soil, as a two-time IRONMAN UK winner. Next goal, facing the dragon in Wales.
Skipper won’t have it all his way, with a few up-and-coming international athletes looking to claim the top podium spot for themselves. In particular, the French duo of William Mennesson and Leon Chevalier. William Mennesson (FRA) is having a decent season having won the IRONMAN 70.3 Mallorca event in Spain and having one up on Skipper for his second-place finish at IRONMAN France Nice in June. On the other hand, Leon Chevalier (FRA) will be coming in brimming with confidence after his second-place finish at IRONMAN 70.3 Vichy only a couple of weeks ago.
And if recent results in IRONMAN racing have taught us anything, it’s that you can never count a German out of contention. Boris Stein (GER) will be welcoming the underdog tag for this one but will be looking to create chaos on the bike leg as we so often seen him do. Can he come into T2 leading, making it a foot race to the end? Only time will tell.
Age-group athletes will also be battling it out for early qualification slots to the 2023 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship event in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i, with the women age groupers also battling it out to break the red tape by crossing first over the finish line for the age group bragging rights.
IRONMAN Wales has taken place in Pembrokeshire since 2011. In 2012, a professional category was introduced with Sylvain Rota (FRA) and Regula Rohrbach (SUI) winning in the men and women’s race respectively.
In addition to the pro line up, 10% of the field is made up of international athletes, with the county of Pembrokeshire welcoming athletes globally, and the highest number of international athletes flying in from Ireland, Germany, the United States, and Spain, IRONMAN Wales will once again cement the county as the United Kingdom’s most iconic and ‘bucket list’ triathlon destination.
One of IRONMAN’s popular master of ceremonies, Paul Kaye, is excited to announce at IRONMAN Wales for the first time since 2017, “I am ecstatic to be coming back to this event in Tenby, it’s been a while.”
Kaye continues, “I had the privilege of attending the first edition in 2011, and wow was it special. Special for Tenby, special for Pembokeshire, special for Wales, special for IRONMAN, but special for me as well. This was my first year doing an IRONMAN Europe tour and I was astonished at the atmosphere this event produced. It was also at Tenby that I signed my first long term contract with IRONMAN Europe. However, what’s most special about Tenby is the incredible crowds. Regardless of the weather, the course will be packed and full of support, it’s truly special. I cannot wait to be in Tenby again, this time celebrating the tenth edition of the event. It’s going to be massive!”
Race timings and course details:
The PRO men will start their race at 06:55 BST and age groupers will start at 07:00 BST. First PRO is estimated to be out the swim and onto the bike at around 07:45 BST and onto the run at around 12:45 BST. The first finisher is expected to cross the finish line between 15:50 – 16:00 BST.
The two-loop 2.4-mile (3.8 km) swim course starts at the famous North Beach in the seaside town of Tenby. Crazy crowds will line up along the iconic “zig zag” stairs to cheer athletes out of the water and into transition.
The two-loop 112-mile (180.2 km) bike course takes athletes through the scenic countryside of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Athletes will have the picture-perfect views of the numerous castles and iconic landmarks – home to one of Harry Potter’s movies.
Finally, the four-loop 26.2 mile (42.2 km) run course is a “you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it” kind of experience. The medieval town walls and picturesque beachfront are lined with tens of thousands of spectators that will push athletes all the way to the finish line.
