According to the german site www.tri2b.com:
May 2005: New Half Ironman in Monaco with 50 slots - the contracts will be signed in May (Mark Allen is involved in the race and the people making Ironman Austria, France and Southafrica)
IM France seems to move to Nice (race date: early june) and would probably replace the Nice Triathlon - but no details on this subject yet.
Monaco - well accommodation should be pretty cheap, oh and a bowl of pasta will be about €45! Seriously this souns likw the weirdest amalganation of events and location!
and IM @ Nice - interested to hear if Francois has anything to say on that! I mean Nice is a great race (a classic, the European Hawaii, insert your own superlative) and I just would be very surprised to see them cave to the WTC like that! It is very un-Gallic! Nice in June would rock as an Ironman and it would propel the race to, potentially, the top of Euro qualifiers, as Gerardmer still is only getting 500-600 entries it will be a commercial decision again but no Embruman, No Nice - what gives?
Now going to do a half Ironman in Nice in May sounds way more appealing than a half Ironman at Disney World ? I’ll be keenly looking for the online regisitration for both half Ironman Nice and Ironman France in Nice. Sounds like two really cool events.
Got confirmation that Nice will be switching to full Ironman distance, Hawaii-qualifier event beginning with June 2005.
Rent a car and stay in the right place and you can find pretty cheap accommodations here, no problem. Come with a bunch of friends and you can rent a top notch villa for roughly 300US per person per week, depending on amenities/# of people, etc. Airport is nearby, trains run along the coast, car rental can be had for reasonable amounts – Euro exchange is something out of our hands so that will determine cost to a certain extent, obviously, for North Americans.
Man, what else can I say? I have been living in the region since 2001 and this race WILL become a sell-out from the get-go. What the course will be remains to be seen, but while the riding is tough, there are also certain roads that you can ride 80km without gaining significant altitude (follow the valley of the Vars). Whatever the course will be, the scenery, organization and venue will be stupendous, with full support from the city of Nice and regional town councils. This is absolutely one of the top cycling destinations in the world and having ridden all there is to ride within 200km in all directions, I can promise whoever chooses to attend they will leave with a burning desire to come back. Heck, I moved here for that reason.
Not sure about the 1/2 Ironman but will know more next week.
As for Embrunman, it is on again! The town has thrown their support behind the race and the differences between the conseil genérale and the race org have been ironed out.
So there you have it: What will be arguably the most scenic, glamorous IM on the circuit will be coming soon to a Riviera near you . . . ok, near me. 