I’m thinking about signing up for IM France 06. Has anyone here done the race? I just did Lake Placid. How does the bike course in France compare to Lake Placid? Is France even more hilly? Generally, is it a cool race?
I worked for Ironmanlive during the race. I was on a Press motorbike during the bike leg. It is hilly and it is impressive. Don’t know about a comparison with IMLP, the websites probably have profile info.
The swim is pretty cool in front of Nice. All the feedback I heard from athletes (particular Americans) is that it was a great destination for a race. There’s a million things to do within easy driving distance before or after the event.
The race organisation is also top-notch. The only thing that I didn’t think was up to scratch was the food at the carbo loading dinner. It was extremely poor, I was really surprised because the French are pretty demanding when it comes to food. The sound wasn’t great either for the speeches at the dinner, but that’s because the sound guys coming from Austria (from memory) had problems with their flight being cancelled, so the organisers stitched together some locals that day that had to work with minimal equipment. On race day however there was no shortage of music, and with two speakers (one in French and one in English - Don King for those who know him) I think they put on a good show.
I have never done the race but I just got back from there this week. As a tourist destination Nice is amazing. Many things to do outside of the triathlon life.
I did manage to figure out where some of the race course was from asking around. It looks tough, but I am thinking of doing it. The scenery is 2nd to none. A pretty fit place too. No shortage of people biking or running along the promenade (the road on the ocean.)
I did it this year. First of all, the setting is amazing, beautiful sea swim, stunning scenery on the bike course in the mountains above Nice, and a 4 lap run up and down the famous promenade.
Organisation generally was great, lots of spectators and a good finish line atmosphere on the day.
That’s the good news. The bad news is it is a hell of a hard race. It was (and normally will be) hot, 90 degrees plus. A hilly bike course, first 60kms are almost all uphill, with some long, technical descents. Having ridden it I would say it is definitely not a TT bike course (but some will argue). The run has no shade at all and was brutal, although dead flat.
To put it in perspective the winning time was just under 9 hours (exactly the same as the winning time in Lanzarote) and Tim DeBoom only managed a 3.40 marathon off the bike to trail in about 6th I think.
Definitely one to do though.
Did it this year and loved it. Beautiful setting, well organized, great crowds, and a super “destination” race with the added benefit of being a great jumping off point for other travels (or, if you play the timing well enough, catching part of the Tour).
Like the others said, a hot and tough bike course: I rode a 5:20 in Florida earlier this year and then was reduced to a 6:50 in France. And as much as I’d like to say I was saving myself on the bike for a fresh run, I’d be lying. But if you have access to big hills in your area (or this isn’t as obvious a limiter as it was for me), then you could have a great day.
happy to tro to answer any specific questions you might have. I can’t comment on the contrast to LP, but you could probably run some stats from the results streadsheets of both and establish some average times overall, and by AG.
Since I’m so close (Geneva is a short flight to Nice), I did the training camp in April in order to preview the course. There were 16 of us plus the IM France team, along with Mark Allen and Yves Cordier. Checking out the bike course with that group was very cool.
The race was good but it was tough. The bike course is not easy, and on a hot, windless day those hills just drag on forever. The only weak point I found was the aid stations on the bike; they should have been a bit longer/larger with a few more people passing out bottles as things got very bunched up. But I think this will evolve with time, not a big deal.
Nice is a great place for a race. One thing about this location is that the city isn’t “taken over” by the race. There are already so many tourists around that the race is somewhat swallowed up, allowing you to escape from the mania for a bit if you want.
My wife made the trip with me, this was her first time at a big race and she thought it was a cool scene.
Actually, 90F+ is unusual for this time of the year in Nice, low 80s is a lot more common so it may not be as hot next year.
Funny thing though is that americans tend to be quite demanding as far as org. is concerned and everyone here seems to be happy with the race organization whereas on a french tri forum most french triathletes didn’t think the org. was up to par and lots of things were off…not enough food at aid stations, water lacking at times, lack of spectators (many on this forum went to IM Ger. and Roth so it’s hard to do as good as these races in terms of spectators)…Even Yves Cordier posted on the forum and admitted things were not as good as expected and he will do his best to improve all these points for next year.
So anyway, looks like next year will be even better.