Ironman contest set to thrill

Ironman 70.3 hits the streets of Monaco 6th September

Contestants will face a swim of 1.9 km, a 90 km cycling race, and a run of 21.1 km. One of the favourites is Christel Robin of France, who took third place in Monaco last year, and second place in Nice two months ago. Her great cycling ability gives her strong potential to beat her rivals. Paul Amey of Britain came second in Monaco in 2007 and has the advantage of knowing the course.

Nathalie Simon, the TV presenter, will take her chances with the others on the early morning starting line. A former French windsurfing champion and a big sports enthusiast, Ms Simon has often said she might well take up the challenge in person.
Fifty qualifying slots for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships to be held in Clearwater, Florida, and 30 qualifying slots for the Ironman World Champion-ship in Kailua-Kona are up for grabs in Monaco.
Triangle Events, organi-sers of the contest, have also put together two teams of three for a charity relay event. Proceeds will go to Monaco’s Les Enfants de Frankie, chaired by Francien Giraudy.

The first team will be lead by a former world swimming champion, Franck Esposito, partnered by Richard Virenque, seven times a stage winner of the Tour de France, and by Christophe Pinna, a fomer karate champion and current head of sports development for the city of Nice.
The second team will consist of Stephane Mifsud, who after swimming the allotted 1.9 km will hand the baton to Eric Champs, former international rugby player and now a TV presenter for the sport, while the marathon will be run by Benoit Z, co-holder of the European marathon record of 2h 6mn 36sec.
The event is open to the public and starts at 7am at Plage de Larvotto, shortly after daybreak.