Hope they choose a date which is not too close to MPRO IMWC Nice or to WPRO IMWC Kona so we get the top athletes at both races.
And also avoid the rather more important culmination of season PTO Tour Championship race date - crystal ball required.
Early August, perhaps?

I assume the location will dictate the date more than the date dictating the location right? Next year NZ in Dec (which is their summer).

---

Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

I think date and location are inextricably entwined.
'Clearly' it will not be in the Antipodes (following '24 in Taupo). I expect IMWC(W) in Kona in '25 will be late October (so that IMWC(M) Nice can be late Sep or first week Oct) and that pushes any 'end-of-season' IM70.3 WC to (earliest) 17 Nov; which would have to be southern hemisphere (?South Africa).
https://weather-and-climate.com/...za-November-averages
Otherwise, and no later than last week August, maybe Germany, that powerhouse of world cycling.
However sensible Germans won't be prepared to pay the piper.
18 SA
19 France (Eur)
20 - (effectively Challenge/PTO Daytona (USA))
21 St George (USA)
22 St George (USA)
23 Finland (Eur)
24 Taupo NZ

Tallinn , Estonia
Marbella , Spain
St.George , USA

That’s what I’ve heard. Not sure if it’s true except for Tallinn .

After 2023 Europe & 2024 New Zealand then they'll need to be back in NA so I predict St George.

Tallinn or Marbella would be good guesses for 2026................

---

Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Yeah, I heard the same, Tallinn announced they are in the final 3 on their race announcement earlier in the year. Good point about changing the location to suit the geographical balance. Utah clearly has form and can cope, US has a good history on owner rental accom as well as hotels etc, Tallinn has a lot of rooms and its a capital city which leads to good connections to other cities but I can imagine if IM did the same as they did for Lahti and monopolised the available rooms it could get expensive very quickly. Marbella is just expensive full stop but plenty of rentals in the area.

The IM 70.3 World Champs in 2025 will be a fairly irrelevant race and just there to maintain the IM business model: you've qualified to race in the "world champs": pay now.
The date is bound to clash with one or two of the PTO Tour races so none the top pros will race the 2025 IM 70.3 World Champ, or even recognise its status as such. We're already seeing this in the women with LCB and Gentle preferring to race Singapore not Lahti.I can see Taupo (iconic venue and date well away from anything else in 2024) being the last IM 70.3 World Champs with any status. And most FP age class amateurs will want to race the World Triathlon designated World Champs, which will be alongside a PTO Tour race.
So wherever IM 70.3 World Champs is in 2025 is really just another 70.3 race.
HTH

This assumes the funding for PTO keeps making it such a payday that the pros want to race it.

That's not to be seen yet. If we extrapolate the budget cuts from last year to next year and then further the next year, PTO would still be a great revenue stream for the podium but might not be so attractive that all the best racers will want to be there.

I can easily see the bottom 10 PTO racers deciding that getting 2-5k pay checks each PTO eace with little chance of a podium is less attractive than multiple 70.3 wins throughout the season and the strong possibility of a 70.3 world's title.

Fair points. But I think the status of 70.3 world title will degenerate to Challenge Championship status, or to the status generally accorded to the WT/ITU long distance world championship in previous years.

If there are 6 PTO races next year, with a couple of others (eg Kona/Nice), that's enough racing for any sensible athlete. If they want to plonk around on bronze 70.3s instead, good luck. They will not be in the PTO 16 the following year.
I expect that the prize money profile will be adapted for 2024 with a lower (but not that much lower) prize purse, with less for the winner/podium so better for 4-10.

In addition, and making a big difference to those in the second half of a 20 strong field, I read (somewhere?) that PTO plan, as part of the contract, to fund hosting arrangements (and ?travel subsidy?), which will make each race a guaranteed 'net earner' with $5-2k 'prize money' for #11-#20.

And those on the PTO bandwagon will likely command a better rate for all their sponsorship/partnerships - assured income, plus bonuses if they get results.

Feels like this assumes that FOP age groupers actually care about a world title or if they care about brand recognition for social media. I think the audience here is very different from the general audience. Just prior to PTO/WT's announcement people were still arguing over whether Nice or Kona was actually a world champs - either due to the location or due to ~*all the slow women*~ getting invited.

In case I'm not clear, I don't agree with the sentiment regarding the supposed 'watering down' of Ironman events, they've been pay-to-play for a while. I think it's too soon to tell on a shift in the wind for the average long course amateur. I think its more than 2 years to shift the general public's knowledge of triathlon from Ironman to anything else.

---

KJ
Swim and Triathlon Coach
AllTerrainEndurance.com
KJ@allterrainendurance.com

Would LOVE to qualify for Tallinn or Marbella!!!

St George.....sure...why not.

NZ in 2024....too long of a flight for me. How do you cope on a zillion hour flight when you are older, grumpy and not exactly a people person? Any pro tips? 😅😢

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Live in NZ. Got no other option if you want to go anywhere that's not Australia. You get used it 😅

It's actually hard for Americans to immigrate to NZ. I don't blame NZ for not wanting us.

I was just looking up flights and I can't even fly from my airport to NZ (surprised I can't even go from my aiport to JFK). Would have to travel to Montreal. And it's a 30 plus hour flight for around $2300 per person and that is just economy. Ugh. Yeah NZ wouldn't be an option for us, but not sure if I really want to fly anymore to races. Europe is a feasible overnight flight. Not easy by any means but I can handle it.

---

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

With the spilt IM WC they have painted themselves into a bit of a corner, this year 2 weeks between Finland and Nice for the men is not ideal.

Next year isn't an issue with conflicting with IM WC Nice or Kona but the timing and location is not great for US athletes.

I have a hard time believing they would go back to Europe in 2025 after being there this year. US is their biggest market and 3 years in a row of races outside North America isn't ideal. My guess would be St. G might get it again or they could revisit one of the other old locations, Chatt or MT....or go somewhere new. I'd love to see it in MT, they just lost the full so that "may" open up a slot in their calendar to host a 2nd late season event.

---

USAT L1 and Youth&Junior Elite - USAC L3 - RRCA
The Cupcake Cartel
Skratch Labs Ambassador - Skratchlete
BOCO Ambassador

I'd love to see it in MT, they just lost the full so that "may" open up a slot in their calendar to host a 2nd late season event.

____

i have no intel to this gossipy prediction BUT I could see MT as a PTO destination with Subaru as a sponsor.

---

@rhyspencer

The bet is, if their us customers want to race in different locations. As st george was twice.

Marbella is almost my hometown, Andalucía is a big touristic destination, with plenty of cultural visits to be done.

But, believe me, you don't want to race there in August

Exactly - IM would either have to schedule the race for October and accept that different women will be racing the 70.3 WC than the 140.6 WC, or 70.3 WC would have to be a spring race.

I did do a sprint in Benalmadena in May a few years ago and the weather was perfect, as was the sea temperature. (Kudos to the local triathlon club for putting on a fantastic event).

However, a spring race isn’t on the cards because qualifying races, etc.

That would leave October, maybe late September.

Slot take-up in Europe would be absolutely massive IMO. Most ST folks will remember Spain is the unquestioned #1 training camp destination in Europe, for good reasons.

---

"FTP is a bit 2015, don't you think?" - Gustav Iden

Spain does sound a little more exciting than St George, but I wonder if StG is on the list for 2025 because the regular event might not happen that year.

Ladies pro golf tour is coming to StG in May 2025 if I read the papers right which probably means no Ironman that month.

I can't see them awarding another world champs to Europe after being there this year and being in Oceana next year.

My money would be on a return to the US. Hopefully not St George given it's hosted the event twice in the last few years.

I'd love it to be Tallinn, my hometown. I do live in Colorado now, but visiting all the friends and racing WC in the hometown would be amazing.

However it is next door to Lahti, Finland and I don't think Ironman with keep 70.3WC in europe two years in a row, let alone in roughly the same location. Late august Tallinn weather will be about the same as they had it in Lahti. Most probably rain and chilly.

This is the last page (filtered for 70.3) from https://www.ironman.com/races, the page after 2024 Taupo. The race info links to the 2023 race. Is the 2025 70.3 WC going back to Lahti?

Hope Not !!!!!!!!!!!

lets go back to vegas !!

THIS! Tremblant is a fabulous venue - park the car and only need to walk around to everything after arriving. I loved racing here back in 2014 (actually raced in Tremblant four years in a row). Great, challenging course, especially adding the run to the top of the pedestrian village. Had hoped to get back for the full again, but this would be the next best option.

---

Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023

Messick had an interview with Babbit in Nice in the last day or so where he said 2025 is decided (I think 2026 too) and that they are great destination races.

It's interesting that he rattled off a list of places they've been in the past and he didn't mention St George. Which to me suggested... I wonder if StG is on the list for 2025 or 2026
since he avoided referencing it.

MT would be a pretty good 2025. I can't imagine going back to EU or to Asia in 2025 -but then again... you've got Nice World Champs s in Europe, so it makes sense to keep their team there so Spain makes sense.

Rio 70.3 Worlds sounds pretty cool too.