We are in the midst of a orange heat warning
I’ve been here for six years at IM time and never experienced anything like it
It is schedule to cool but yesterday at 3.30pm it said 44.5 when I got in my car and 38 after I’d been driving for 30 minutes
The whole course is very exposed. The promenade for the marathon will have been far warmer than where I live which is 15 mins inland
Be careful
I hear you. Same for other events such as IM Frankfurt and Challenge Roth
I hear you. Same for other events such as IM Frankfurt and Challenge Roth
Current 10-day forecast for Roth shows this heat breaking on Monday. Roth race day currently showing a predicted high of 75. Crossing fingers that forecast holds!
We are in the midst of a orange heat warning
I’ve been here for six years at IM time and never experienced anything like it
It is schedule to cool but yesterday at 3.30pm it said 44.5 when I got in my car and 38 after I’d been driving for 30 minutes
The whole course is very exposed. The promenade for the marathon will have been far warmer than where I live which is 15 mins inland
Be careful
Race now shortened to 3.8/152/30. First ever shortening of an Ironman due to heat that I know of.
Any talk of TdF being adjusted if conditions hold?
Any talk of TdF being adjusted if conditions hold? //
I highly doubt it can be put on hold, but I suppose it could be shortened. But I remember when I was living in La Quinta, and the TOC came through and finished up the tram road, it was 112 degrees that day. The entire peloton was together with one short climb to the finish to go, and I doubt that more than 3 riders came in together that day, and guys lost 10 minutes a mile on that final climb… Not sure if that was a lesson to be learned for this years TDF, or a template that nothing is too hot to race in, just another factor to deal with…
Any talk of TdF being adjusted if conditions hold?
Doubtful. The European heat wave of 2003 (which was the worst since the 1500s) was ongoing for the Tour and they didn’t make any changes then. I was there for the prologue and the first 10 stages. That was the year Beloki crashed on the melted tar on the road and broke his femur and Lance rode across the field in order to not hit him. It was hot, but what made it really bad was that it never cooled off at night.
From IM Nice facebook page
“Due to the extreme environmental conditions in Nice – a combination of unusually highly concentrated air pollution and expected extreme temperatures – the authorities have ordered us to execute the following changes at IRONMAN France Nice this weekend.
We have been instructed to shorten IRONMAN France Nice to a 3,8km swim, a 152km bike and a three-loop 30km run. The reason for this is to reduce the exposure to the aforementioned conditions and also to decrease our potential impact on emergency services which will be required by the citizens and visitors to the greater Nice area.
Unfortunately, we were also instructed to cancel the IRONKIDS as well as the Iron Girl events. We strongly recommend all athletes, families, fans, supporters and volunteers to stay well hydrated throughout race day and protect against the sunlight.
We worked hard to maintan the race.
Stay positive, Sunday will be a unique day for everyone.
Don’t think only like as athlete but to our volunteers who will stay hours under the sun fr you.”
They need to suck it up. The high is 88 degrees. I did Chattanooga 70.3 in 2018, and the temperature was 92 with a heat index of 100. It was not shortened.
Frankfurt will be 101. That is hot and warrants modifying the distance.
Lets not forget about how badly this sucks for volunteers out there all day. That’s way harder than racing. At least racing you are creating your own air flow on the bike and run…volunteering you are baking on the Promenade Des Anglais.
70.3 and 140.6 are exactly the same thing
The temperature had been well above the forecast all week
If it said the forecast on the sea front in Nice was 88 it will be closer to 98 as it is all concrete and no shade
It was 115 yesterday
Sucking it up is idiotic
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Heat? What heat? Kind of like a cool morning for some. 
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGT3Rw7sl4s
From IM Nice facebook page
“Due to the extreme environmental conditions in Nice – a combination of unusually highly concentrated air pollution and expected extreme temperatures – the authorities have ordered us to execute the following changes at IRONMAN France Nice this weekend.
We have been instructed to shorten IRONMAN France Nice to a 3,8km swim, a 152km bike and a three-loop 30km run. The reason for this is to reduce the exposure to the aforementioned conditions and also to decrease our potential impact on emergency services which will be required by the citizens and visitors to the greater Nice area.
Unfortunately, we were also instructed to cancel the IRONKIDS as well as the Iron Girl events. We strongly recommend all athletes, families, fans, supporters and volunteers to stay well hydrated throughout race day and protect against the sunlight.
We worked hard to maintan the race.
Stay positive, Sunday will be a unique day for everyone.
Don’t think only like as athlete but to our volunteers who will stay hours under the sun fr you.”
What irks on this is that they have done it because they have been forced to by the authorities, not of their own. IM are super speedy in canning swim legs. But very tardy about the run.
From IM Nice facebook page
“Due to the extreme environmental conditions in Nice – a combination of unusually highly concentrated air pollution and expected extreme temperatures – the authorities have ordered us to execute the following changes at IRONMAN France Nice this weekend.
We have been instructed to shorten IRONMAN France Nice to a 3,8km swim, a 152km bike and a three-loop 30km run. The reason for this is to reduce the exposure to the aforementioned conditions and also to decrease our potential impact on emergency services which will be required by the citizens and visitors to the greater Nice area.
Unfortunately, we were also instructed to cancel the IRONKIDS as well as the Iron Girl events. We strongly recommend all athletes, families, fans, supporters and volunteers to stay well hydrated throughout race day and protect against the sunlight.
We worked hard to maintan the race.
Stay positive, Sunday will be a unique day for everyone.
Don’t think only like as athlete but to our volunteers who will stay hours under the sun fr you.”
What irks on this is that they have done it because they have been forced to by the authorities, not of their own. IM are super speedy in canning swim legs. But very tardy about the run.
…
Actually it isn’t that different to the reason they had a two loop swim and three loop run through town at Ironman Canada in Penticton 2003.The fires raging around the valley didn’t affect the race course particularly but all the emergency services had to be routed elsewhere leaving NAS no option but to either modify the course or cancel the race.
it is a wise decision. You have to be pretty selfish to say that emergency is spread so thin that they should let elderly and homeless peoole die just so that you can have a paramedic for your leisure activity!
The modified course and the hard nice course will still make it harder than 90% of other IM. I wonder about Frankfurt though.
I was in Frankfurt in 2015 when it was also 38C. The days leading up to the race it was in the mid thirties and we were told the emergency services were already stretched. The council allowed the race to go ahead and the organisers did what they could to put more ice on the course and re directed part of the run through shaded areas. I’m from the UK and remember walking down to the train station at 3am to get to the start just wearing a pair of shorts and flip flops and I was already sweating heavily. I did consider not starting but I felt I at least needed to give it a shot. I dialled right back on the bike effort, shuffled through the run and finished. I had a headache for about 2 weeks after the race. I’m still not sure it was the right choice for me to compete. About 33% of the field DNF/DNS that day and the finish times were about 45mins down across the board . . .apart from the PRO’s. Frodo broke the course record that day. I think the issue of the emergency services being stretched is a very serious consideration but also people have to be realistic about their own abilities. The PRO’s were absolutely fine in those conditions, but the age group field was not. I usually race IM at 190ish watts but that day I averaged 150 which I think is the only reason I got to the end and didn’t add to the workload of the emergency services. I am told Kona is similar to these conditions every year, but the average athlete there is very different to the average athlete in other IM races.
I don’t think it’s unsafe for IM races to go ahead in these sorts of conditions but that relies on people being realistic about their abilities. If every IM was held in 38C heat, you might find more people getting a proper sweat test done and obsessing about their hydration plan instead of the aero dynamics of their bikes. And that is often the main problem.
Tubs
It was 115 degrees YESTERDAY. It will be 88 on Sunday. Two different days and 27 degrees difference in temperature. Will there be heat related emergencies on Sunday relative to Thursday? Possibly, but the difference in temperature is enormous and many IM’s have been over 90 and 100 degrees in the United States. Where are all the posters saying U.S. IM’s are soft compared to European IM’s? This was being said within the past week here.
If they feel it’s necessary I don’t dispute it, but again there have been many IM’s over 90 and 100 degrees. Louisville, Chattanooga, and CDA 140.6’s come to mind.
70.3 and 140.6 are exactly the same thing
The temperature had been well above the forecast all week
If it said the forecast on the sea front in Nice was 88 it will be closer to 98 as it is all concrete and no shade
It was 115 yesterday
Sucking it up is idiotic
Any talk of TdF being adjusted if conditions hold?
Would imagine that the UCI’s extreme weather protocol would come into play.
How much time have you spent on the promenade des anglais or the route to gordon
If it is 88 air temp at a weather station here, it is more than 10 degrees warmer on the promenade. No shade, all radiant heat. No breeze.
I’ve spent seven years in the middle east. I live on this course and this is as hot as the ME at the moment.
Nice is the second or third most polluted city in France, I appreciate you don’t seem to recognise that this was not just about IM but all the emergency services are being stretched to breaking point. it is currently 35 degrees at my house and the air quality is dire.
Perhaps you’ve no interest in athlete welfare or the risks and arm-chairing it without being here is a little rich. It’s no AZ, Tx, or chatanooga
I’ve done IM’s in the US. Nice in hot weather is as difficult as any, given the climbing but more to do with the exposure.
It was 115 degrees YESTERDAY. It will be 88 on Sunday. Two different days and 27 degrees difference in temperature. Will there be heat related emergencies on Sunday relative to Thursday? Possibly, but the difference in temperature is enormous and many IM’s have been over 90 and 100 degrees in the United States. Where are all the posters saying U.S. IM’s are soft compared to European IM’s? This was being said within the past week here.
If they feel it’s necessary I don’t dispute it, but again there have been many IM’s over 90 and 100 degrees. Louisville, Chattanooga, and CDA 140.6’s come to mind.
70.3 and 140.6 are exactly the same thing
The temperature had been well above the forecast all week
If it said the forecast on the sea front in Nice was 88 it will be closer to 98 as it is all concrete and no shade
It was 115 yesterday
Sucking it up is idiotic
Things you’re not including in your analysis:
It simply does not get this hot in France, typically. Things aren’t air conditioned…because this just isn’t supposed to happen.Services are indeed stretched thin. Thursday impacts Sunday because resources have already been used.We’ve come awfully close to having events black flagged. Not just IM, but marathons in the U.S. have certainly been conditions cancelled due to heat indices (Vermont City, for instance).
And again, this is a situation where the local authorities are making the decision for the race. I’d imagine they have a better handle on whether they can provide the logistics necessary than you or I.