Any thoughts?
For example, no one over the age of 31 except for Lance has ever won the Tour de France. Was wondering what the peak age is for Ironman.
I’ve heard 29.
18…after that it is all downhill.
I’ve heard 29.
Not sure if you are trying to be funny or not. But that is not right.
For men…late 20s to early-mid 30s would be my guess.
but that is not always the case I mean Mark Allen won the thing at 37!
For men…late 20s to early-mid 30s would be my guess.
but that is not always the case I mean Mark Allen won the thing at 37!
Didn’t Natasha win it at 38?
29 is funny? He can’t be that far off IMO. saying 45 would be funny, because I’m guessing that 29 is pretty close.
Depends on how old you were when you start training seriously.
Here’s a formula:
Age at which you started + 13 years - (starting age/7.5) = peak age.
There you have it!
Dave Scott made a comeback one year when he was in his early 40’s and got 2nd or 3rd, if I recall (I know, without a doubt he did the top 10 that year). Everyone made a big deal about it b/c they were like “no way gramps over here can hack it in a pro field!” Turns out, gramps could hack it…and did he ever.
EDIT: I did some checking… Dave Scott returned in 1994, at age 40, and he finished 2nd to Greg Welch. He returned again in 1996, at age 42, and finished 6th.
Cheers!
I agree and obviously there will be some scattered results but the key point to this is that his forum said “typically”. And I guess he means for pro athlete’s as well as AG athletes?
Sweet… I have 8-9 years until I peak in my mid 40’s. I can see it, I am in my mid 30’s and have improved 10-15% since I started
I did my first at IM at 44 , four years later and four races later last year was faster than the first.
I guess I will peak at 54.
As an individual? It would depend a lot on what age you are when you start. I have heard, no matter what age you start, it takes 5 -7 years to reach your peak at the Ironman Distance. So if you start at 35, you may peak in your 40s. If you start at 24, you might peak in your 30s. How long they can hold on to that “peak” is another matter. You rarely see someone who has been racing for 15 to 20 years have a PR. Age eventually catches up to everyone.
As a group, statistics will show the fastest *Ironman *athletes are in their mid 30s. Many hold their speed into their early 40s, but most start to decline in the mid 40s.
Any thoughts?
For example, no one over the age of 31 except for Lance has ever won the Tour de France. Was wondering what the peak age is for Ironman.
Depends when you start. If you start at 18 you probably peak in your mid to early thirties. If you start at 50 you probably peak at 55.
Everyone is different. I have every intention of peaking at about age 50, after 6 iron mans and 18-20 years in the sport … I have 12 years and 5 IMs to go, so I figure I have a lot of time to improve 
For me? This year I fully expect to break my twenty year old IM PR. I’m 53.
You need to be more specific in you question, but if it is as a winning or top placing pro, like you example of Lance and the TDF, then I would say between 34 to 38… IF you look back at the hisrory of IM racing, you will find that this age brackett yeilds most of your winners and top 10. Sometimes you get someone younger, or someone older, but that would be the average range. I know personally that I peaked out around 37 in my racing, and that was for olympic, half, and the marathon. Physically I might have been better in my late 20’s, but I was not faster, because of all the things I learned in those 7 to 10 years, and the base advantages they gave me later on…
AG is a whole different question, with 100’s of different answers depending on all the original variables you start with…
I’m hoping it’s 37. 
I just got off on a bit of a mental tangent b/c of the OP’s reference to LA and Professional statistics about the TdF. Also, I was just making the point that performance is there to be had beyond 30.
Furthermore, I would argue that 30-33 is probably the peak age. That is premised upon the position that training intensity carries through to that age without mental burnout and discouragement.
Wow, cool question.
I think it would be dependent on what age you start. I remember hearing somewhere it takes like 10 yrs of good, consistent training to really get good… but I don’t remember where I heard or read that.
peak age for a marathon is supposedly late 20s, no? I wonder if it is similar for an IM, assume you get into the sport when you’re 20ish.