This is a preview of IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder, which was won by American Trevor Foley and Australian Ellie Salthouse.
The IRONMAN Pro Series returns to the United States this weekend, with athletes heading to the triathlon “Mecca” of Boulder for IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder.
Held at an altitude of 1,655m above sea level, the race poses a unique challenge for competitors and can often lead to some painful blowups for those who don’t pace their efforts.
In our preview piece below, you can find all the details you need on start times, streaming and who to watch out for in the professional men and women’s fields.
Start times and how to watch live
IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder will take place on Saturday June 8. The professional race will begin at 07:05 local time. This corresponds to 06:05 on the West Coast, 09:05 on the East Coast and 14:05 in the UK.
The race will be broadcast live, with the event the seventh race this year to be broadcast on the dedicated IRONMAN Pro Series app. You will be able to watch for free on race day via the IRONMAN Pro Series website.
As always, the ever reliable IRONMAN Tracker is the perfect data addition to support your viewing. If you haven’t got it on your phone already, where have you been?!
Pro Men
Leading the men’s field is recent IRONMAN Australia winner Samuel Appleton, the 34-year-old Australian, who has twice featured on the podium in Colorado back in 2016 and 2021.
Joining the PTO World #25 is another recent Ironman winner, Mexican Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez, who took a surprise victory at IRONMAN Texas at the end of April, beating two-time IRONMAN World Champion Patrick Lange.
Americans Trevor Foley, Matt Hanson and Chris Leiferman, who have all raced either the half distance of full distance event here in the past, are also likely to feature, with Hanson chasing back-to-back wins after victory at IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga.
Sam Osborne of New Zelaand is another name to watch out for, having made the switch from XTERRA, with South African Nicholas Quenet and Australian pro cyclist Cam Wurf adding some additional firepower to the start list.
Finally, short course stars John Reed and Chase McQueen, who have both found success on the World Triathlon circuit so far this season, will look to make an impact over the middle distance on Saturday.
Pro Women
Australian Ellie Salthouse, who has finished first and second in her two middle distance appearances so far this season, will be the firm favourite in the women’s race this weekend, as she chases a third career victory in Colorado.
The winner here in 2016 and 2018, Salthouse will face competition from Danish dynamo Sif Bendix Madsen, who finished seventh at IRONMAN 70.3 Mallorca last month in her first race of the year.
Madsen, who is a top swim-biker, may have some company from former Commonwealth Games champion Jodie Stimpson, with the British star racing for the second time this season after seventh at IRONMAN 70. Chattanooga.
Americans Lesley Smith and Rachel Olson will be two more podium contenders, with Canadian Erin Schenkels, racing back-to-back weekends after tenth at IRONMAN Hamburg, chasing a second pro podium.
Prize Money: What’s on the line?
The prize purse on offer this weekend is $50,000 – with each of the winners collecting a $7,500 share of that total.
As part of the IRONMAN Pro Series, athletes will also earn points as they seek to become the IRONMAN Pro Series Champion and win a share of the $1.7 million bonus prize purse.
In Boulder, the maximum possible score will be 2,500 points for 1st place, with points for all remaining professional finishers diminishing based on the time deficit to first place, at a rate of 1 point per 1 second deficit to the winner’s finishing time.
In addition to money and series points, there will be a total of six qualifying slots (three MPRO + three FPRO) for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupō, New Zealand, December 14-15 2024.
The total funds will be paid ten-deep, as follows:
- $7,500
- $5,000
- $3,750
- $3,000
- $2,000
- $1,500
- $1,250
- $1,000
