September signals Ironman time in Pembrokeshire and as always there is great deal of excitement around one of the world’s toughest races in Ironman Wales.
The 2017 edition will once again feature some of the UK and the world’s best professional Ironman athletes alongside close to 2200 age group athletes.
Headlining the professional men’s field will be France’s Romain Guillaume and the Netherlands’ Bas Diederen along with Great Britain’s Harry Wiltshire and Philip Graves.
As an athlete who thrives on tough courses, France’s Guillaume will be well-suited to the Ironman Wales bike course. He usually adopts the tactic of going hard on the bike, amassing a lead before holding off challenges on the run.
The course in Wales could play to his strengths giving him an early advantage. In terms of results, Guillaume has had a successful, but not perfect season so far.
A good win at Ironman 70.3 South Africa in January was followed up with second place finishes at Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire and Ironman 70.3 Dublin.
At IronmanUK he was in a strong position leading the race on the bike before a fall unfortunately ended his race prematurely.
The Netherlands’ Diederen is an Ironman champion with wins at Ironman Maastricht-Limburg to his name along with strong performances at big races. Similarly to Guillaume, the Dutch athlete is strong on the bike and usually attacks early.
Runner-up in 2016, Great Britain’s Philip Graves, returns to Wales this year with designs on the top spot after narrowly missing out last year.
Another athlete who is strong on the bike, Graves recorded the fastest professional bike split at Ironman Wales in 2016 and with Guillaume and Diederen in the field, an intriguing battle could develop.
Lucy Gossage will be the professional women’s favourite as she comes into the race in supreme form. Gossage has already won Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire and Ironman UK and recorded a second place at Ironman 70.3 Edinburgh.
She has been a near ever-present on the Ironman UK and Ireland calendar in 2017 but was forced to withdraw from Ironman 70.3 Dublin on race morning due to illness.
An athlete with experience at Ironman Wales is Great Britain’s Kate Comber.
Comber placed fifth in Wales in 2016 and has since kicked on, racing in strong fields in 2017.
She narrowly missed out on a top ten at the Ironman African Championship before a 6th place at Ironman Lanzarote and recently achieved her first Ironman podium at Ironman Maastricht-Limburg in the Netherlands with a well-earned third place. She will be aiming to move into the podium positions in Wales this year.
The USA’s Dede Griesbauer will also be one of the podium contenders in Tenby. Griesbauer is a three-time Ironman champion including Ironman UK and has multiple top ten finishes at the Ironman World Championship to her name. The American has the experience of racing at the top level and could be one to watch for a podium.
The 2017 edition of the race will see 2200 athletes from 45 different countries taking on the 2.4 mile swim at Tenby’s North Beach, 112 mile bike through Pembrokeshire and the 26.2 mile run in and around Tenby.
Of the total field, 38.6 per cent of the athletes racing will be racing at Ironman Wales for the first time and the race will once again have Wales rugby legends, Shane Williams and Ryan Jones taking part.
The 2017 edition of Ironman Wales takes place on Sunday with the race getting underway at 6.55 am from Tenby’s North Beach.
For more information on the race, visit the event website, www.ironman.com/wales