Podersdorf.
I've done it in 2020 and will do it this year. Especially nice if you like flat courses (6*30).
Nice wine - area. Not expensive.
The fee was quite expensive though this year.

This website has a list of all non branded races by month

https://www.k226.com/events/events.aspx

Sorry i’m french so only know well french race !

If you like hilly courses this one are awesome :
- Alpsman (i like this spirit of this race more than embrun, kind of norseman and annecy is awesome place)
- Embrunman

If you like flat race :
- Frenchman
- Bayman (pretty near UK)

Swissman?

Challenge have a few in Europe.

France has a lot of very well attended events that are not IM branded including Embrunman but also:

• Triathlon de Deauville (Full, Olympic and Sprint) - Very good turnout. https://triathlondeauville.com/?lang=en
• Alpe d'Huez (L, M) - https://www.alpetriathlon.com/?lang=en
• Natureman (L, M) https://natureman-var.fr/en/accueil-english/
• Altriman (XL, M) - Small but quite a strong reputation. http://www.altriman.com

Replying to everyone - thank you! Looks like lots of great races to check out, I will take a closer look.

I assume you checked the Challenge Family site a long time ago. Also consider the Ocean Lava series. They've got some scenic courses, and Ocean Lava Montenegro is one hell of a high profile race (without a full though). I've raced Ocean Lava Poland (full, half, sprint) as it's 3 hours away from my house and enjoyed the quality of organization, the atmosphere and the course.

On my bucket list is also Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee (undersized half) with a mountain+lake type landscape and a challenging but manageable (way more manageable than Alpe d'Huez) bike course.

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"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

Elbaman in Italy
Elbaman - Elba Island Triathlon

some good stuff already mentioned
the deauvillle tri fesitival has some 7000 people racing
frenchman is my personal favorite and you have usually a oly disstance race one day a hallf the next day and then the full right now the price for the full is 275 euro which is likely the best value for and full in europe
ostseeman in germany is also pretty good
if ireland is in consideration you have the hardman around the ring of kerry very simple race like kona in the early 80s entry fee 240 euro and you get a pretty good hoodie
podersdorf also good be aware that in 2021 austrian tri federation did not accept licneses from other countries and you had to buy a one day license which was like 30 to 40 euro many pissed of people that day i would check with them first , as it is a total rip off.
to be honest i would stay away a little bit from challenge fulls pricey for little quality most of the time of course apart from roth.
iam not sure if elbaman in italy is still on but that would be another pretty good one havent done it myself but i heard many good things about it . just checked its still one which is great as a couple of years ago they had announced the last edition.
and i forgot ironcat between barcelona and valencia also has been running for many years and if you enter before december its 250 euro fast course and usually pretty good weather .

https://austria-triathlon.at/

French here as well. So many independent/cheap/laidback full-distance races and triathlon festivals in France. On top of all the ones mentioned above by my French compatriots, you can add :

• Bearman in the Pyrenees. probably the cheapest full distance (but unsupported) race at 180 euros entre fee - has a full and a half distance : https://bearmanxtri.com/fr/ - Sam Laidlow's dad is (used to be?) the race director. brutal bike course
• ChtriMan in the North of France for a mere 250€ for the full distance - also has many shorter distances : https://www.chtriman.com/...reuves/chtriman-226/
• Openlakes Champagne has all the races distances you can think of : https://www.openlakes.eu/openlakeschampagne
• Leman Full distance : this is a new race and I have been targeted non stop by online ads over the past few months. also has many shorter distance races available. nice place to spend a holiday. bike course looks brutal https://triathlonevian.com/...Le-man-full-distance

Not full distance races but still challenging :

• Triathlon XL de la Madeleine (not a full IM distance but 4000m of elevation over 110km on the bike). Also has many shorter distance races over the same weekend. I raced there last year. loved it, tour de France like bike leg. would recommend it, but the lake is very small so great if you're a weaker swimmer and a stronger rider. : https://triathlon-madeleine.fr/epreuves/triathlon-xl/
• VercorsMan : many distances available including an XL format with a lot of elevation on the bike. loved it, shorter swim in the river as well. same comment as above. : http://vercorsman.com/vercorsman-xl
• Triathlon du Mont-Blanc
• Triathlon de Gérardmer : one of the iconic French races : https://triathlondegerardmer.com/

I raced the Frenchman (full distance) in the South West earlier this season and I thought the bike course was boring (0 meters of elevation across 180km of riding) - but enjoyed the super laidback atmosphere

Someone mentioned the Natureman but unless I am mistaken it is more of an adventure / raid type race nowadays.
+1 on Alpsman and EmbrunMan (the support is incredible, you feel like a Tour de France rider at the top of col d'izoard)

Personnaly, I am really keen on the BlackLake Montenegro race, maybe for next year.

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It doesn't get easier, you just get slower
https://mymsracesironman.home.blog/

I'm in for the Challenge Almere race this year. Entry was quite reasonable and they say it's the second oldest Tri in the world. There's both a full and 70.3. Very flat with only the "Dutch Mountains" (wind) to contend with. Challenge seems to have quite a few nice venues.

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Kiwami Racing Team