I'm surprised this didn't get any traction on the forum. Waiting to hear more on the particulars and the exact date.

vind ik leuk!

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
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disclaimer: PhD not MD

From Tri247.com

IRONMAN is pleased to announce the addition of the IRONMAN® Maastricht-Limburg triathlon in the Netherlands to next year's IRONMAN European Tour – the inaugural race will be held on August 2, 2015.
The IRONMAN European Tour currently comprises 13 IRONMAN® and 23 IRONMAN® 70.3® events. Maastricht, a buzzing city of 120,000 inhabitants, gained world-wide recognition through the Maastricht Treaty which laid the foundation for today's European Union. As hosts of the 2012 UCI Road World Championship, the city of Maastricht and the neighbouring municipalities of Sittard-Geleen and Valkenburg aan de Geul are experienced in large-scale endurance events.
The IRONMAN Maastricht-Limburg course will lead through some of the region's most picturesque areas and will finish at the market in the city center of Maastricht. The 3.8 kilometres swim course will take place in the Maas river followed by a beautiful yet challenging 180.2 kilometres bike course and a 42.2 kilometre marathon run around Maastricht and the “Sports Zone” of Sittard-Geleen.
“We are absolutely thrilled to bring IRONMAN to the Province of Limburg. The Maastricht region and IRONMAN are a perfect fit and we look forward to a great race that will challenge professional athletes and age-groupers alike,” said Thomas Dieckhoff, CEO for IRONMAN Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Known for a history of cycling events – especially the famous Amstel Gold Race first held in 1966 – Limburg offers everything a triathlete desires. The swim course has fantastic spectator viewing areas, beautiful scenery, perfect infrastructure, and a bike course that traverses the famous Cauberg Hill, for being part of five cycling World Championships, two Tour de France stages and the annual Amstel Gold Race.”
IRONMAN® Maastricht-Limburg will be a true sports festival featuring an Iron Girl® and IRONKIDS® event as well as endurance seminars and podium discussions at the sports center of the City of Sittard. Sports clubs and schools throughout the region will be encouraged to participate in the weekend's events.
“Bringing an event to Limburg of this magnitude will be extremely beneifical to the area as we promote sport and health as widely as possible,” said Ger Koopmans, member of the Provincial Executive with special responsibility for sport. “Along with our cycling events, IRONMAN underlines our ambitions to put Limburg on the map as a premier destination for sports.”
“We see this as an excellent investment,” said Maastricht alderman André Willems. “With an expected 1,800 competitors along with officials and spectators spending an average of four days in our region, their presence is likely to boost the local economy by over ten million euros per year. IRONMAN will create a direct benefit for the hospitality industry that will also have a trickle-down effect for scores of other businesses.”
Registration for IRONMAN Maastricht-Limburg will open soon at www.ironman.com/maastricht and athletes are invited to sign up to be notified when registration opens. For more information on the IRONMAN brand and global event series, visit www.ironman.com. Athlete inquires may be directed to maastricht@ironman.com.

Want to see the full bike course. Cauberg Hill is famous but is it really that challenging if your riding up at an IM pace.

Just spent a week in Flanders Region (Northern) in Oct and had great time. Will pick a Euro IM for 2016 so this would be a strong contender, flying into Amsterdam is a plus.

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2016:
IMFL #12
http://www.bestbikesplit.com

I'll be in for 2016 for sure.

The course sounds fun enough. But I wonder if it will be in conflict with Challenge Almere-Amsterdam. That race wasn't sold out, for as far as I know, and the Netherlands aren't that big to accomodate two full distance triatlons. Unless the Ironman brand is big enough to attract different athletes than Challenge...
Does anybody else think it's a good move for triathlon as a whole to get two races so close to each other?

Wow, I was going to go back to Whistler, but but but....this looks really good!

Is Maastrict area not a lot hillier than the Almere event, so an entirely different experience? Also, I assume it would draw from well beyond Holland.

I think you're completely right. There are a lot of athletes in the Netherlands that choose not to participate in Almere, because of the course. Almere is pancake flat, Maastricht has hills indeed.

Just read that it uses the same bike course as the Amstel Gold bike race....the event got even more interesting!

Here is the final 90K of the Amstel Gold 2013 race. Can anyone confirm if Ironman The Netherlands is using the same?



This link says the Amstel Gold Race has >4000m of climbing over 253K:: http://theclimbingcyclist.com/...s-4000m-of-climbing/

....I assume we're talking around 2600m of the IM in that case? Man, that's going to be more than Nice, more than Lanzarote, more then Whistler or Tahoe....and all of that in Holland!

Also some good info on the wikipedia site for the Amstel Gold race. If Frank Schleck can win this, race, I think you want to go on the Macca approved cabbage and water diet before hauling your butt over all those hills. Looks like a watts per kilo favourable course!

So it would be completely different than C A-M? I hope it works. Is this actually one of the Iron distance races with the most meters of climbing?

I'm really looking forward to the presentation of the bike course. I've ridden the Amstel Gold Race cyclosportive a couple of times and have trained many times in the region. Expect many short but steep climbs with flat roads in between. This area has less rolling hills compared to for instance the nearby Ardennes or Eifel area. I'm curious if the Keutenberg and/or the Eyserenbosweg will be included, which are considered to be the most difficult climbs in The Netherlands (which in itself does not say that much, but they are hard).

I expect somewhere between 2500-3000 meters of climbing over 180km. I'm racing Challenge Roth in July and Challenge Almere two months later, so IM Maastricht is a no-go for me in 2015, but the event is a strong candidate for 2016.

Be aware that Maastricht is two and a half hours away from Amsterdam, so be careful when planning your destination airport for the event.

The city is close enough for people living in Belgium, Germany and France to drive there to race
Most European IM races do sell out, unless it's exceptionally hard (e.g Wales or Lazoronte) so i won't be surprise if this one does well!
It doesn't surprise me if this was done to pull people away from Challenge

For this exact reason I doubt the course will be very hard. There should definitely be some hills in them but likely nothing close to amstel gold race. Challange Almere probably doesn't sell out because the Netherlands and Almere aren't exactly a holiday destination. YOu got 50% chance of rain and definitely lots of wind. And there's is nothing exciting to see while being there.

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Don't forget to attack!

Course description says bike course is on the Amstel Gold course. Amstel Gold has 4000m over 253K. "The two-loop bike course follows roads that are famous in the world of cycling—it is the same course as the yearly Amstel Gold Race and also hosted the 2012 UCI Road World Championships. Athletes will enjoy spectacular scenery that has long drawn recreational cyclists and runners, who are increasingly discovering Limburg as the number one location for their sport. The splendid, but difficult, Cauberg Hill in Valkenburg will remain the traditional make-or-break feature of the bike course

Originally from: http://www.ironman.com/...t.aspx#ixzz3Mv6G0RRY"

Also for those flying in Brussels is closer, but for many direct flights to Frankfurt and <3 hour drive may be easier than flying to Amsterdam just because it potentially removes on extra flight leg depending on where you live.

I really don't think that's a concern for anyone not living in the Netherlands ;-) I think a 2,5 hours drive is a breeze for most people from, for example, the US or Canada.

You're probably right, it's just that in that timespan you can cross our entire country ;-) And hopefully the race attracts many triathletes from overseas.

I can confirm it's an easy drive from Frankfurt, having driven that route (too) many times on the way to Ghent/Antwerp and Lille.

If they really are planning to use the Amstel Gold route then it will be an exceptionally hard day in the saddle. Plus the weather does really weird things up there, just look what happens at the Spa GP.

An absolutely huge challenge for anybody!

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´Get the most aero and light bike you can get. With the aero advantage you can be saving minutes and with the weight advantage you can be saving seconds. In a race against the clock both matter.´

BMANX

Well that confirms the point already since the world championship course and the Amstel Gold Race are using different roads for the most part. Yes both go over the Cauberg but one was just 10 mile laps and the other more point to point (with some laps at the end). To say the course will go over the same roads can mean different things - from 'one lap over the WC course' to doing 20 hills with 10000ft of climbing.

I think to sell out the race, it can't be very hard, because how many would want to 1) travel to holland and 2) get their but kicked in a crazy hard course? History has shown that tough courses are much more difficult to sell out even when they are in beautiful locations. And Holland isn't really a great location, btw. But maybe it's because I lived in Belgium for 26 years of which several right on the border with the Netherlands, and I've seen everything there is to see too many times already so it's totally not appealing to me.

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Don't forget to attack!

I studied abroad in Maastricht in 2004. It's one of my favorite places in the world!

I 'retired' from Ironman racing in 2012, but definitely thinking of doing this one next August.

I live in Chicago, so the travel/hotel/race entry/etc. will probably be very pricey for a race. Would love to do it though.

I'm sure it will sell-out.

They just published the bike course info.
Seems like only 800m total climb, or did I misunderstood something? Lot of turns also..

Some hills on run course, though and nice swimming course :)