Ironman World Championship Live Ticker: Drama surrounding Anne Haug – Laura Philipp rides strongly

In the darkness of Sunday morning in Nice, they got ready: 45 professional triathletes and 1,400 age group athletes to complete 3.86 kilometers of swimming, 180.2 kilometers of cycling and a marathon. It is the day of the Women's Ironman World Championship, which was traditionally held in Hawaii until 2023.

In history, there has only been one German title holder since 1979: Anne Haug. The woman from Bayreuth was one of the favorites even now, five years after her triumph and at 41. No world champion would ever be older. What spoke for her: her world record set in July, her extra class. But: she also had health problems this year. The hilly course is also not ideal for the strongest runner in the field. The other German favorite: Laura Philipp, third in Hawaii in 2023. She said optimistically before the start: “It quickly seems as if I had been asked what the bike course should look like.”

There are also a number of other favorites and, given the more than 2,400 meters of elevation on the bike course, many uncertainties. Report from the scene:

10.20 a.m.: Philipp follows “Buddha” Laidlow

Laura Philipp has arrived on the plateau – in second place. She has completed almost 65 kilometers. She has watched the men's race last year closely and had the winner Sam Laidlow in mind on the course. “Sam didn't do anything crazy on the bike, he radiated total patience and yet rode consistently fast,” she said beforehand. “He seemed like a Buddha. That's what I have in mind and I'll try to do something similar.”

10.00 am: Laura Philipp flies over the track

The 37-year-old from Heidelberg showed what she had announced before the race: that this course is exactly to her taste. She overtook one athlete after the other on the long climbs and was in third place after a good 50 kilometers of the total course – 3:23 behind Pierre, just under a minute behind Matthews. She is getting closer and closer to the Brit and should overtake her soon.

“If I had to choose between the cycling course in Hawaii and Nice,” she said beforehand, “I would always choose Nice. It's quite hilly where I live, and I'm used to it.”

9.45 am: Triathlon or road bike?

As was the case with the men last year, despite the mountainous course, the professional athletes are riding their triathlon bikes and not their lighter and more maneuverable racing bikes (this is different for some of the age group athletes) – although the set-up has changed for everyone compared to Kona and has been adapted to the course.

Philipp explains: “We changed a lot in the preparation and with the bike, because you have to climb for quite a long time, then convert your muscles to the time trial – and then go downhill.” And that with a time trial bike! You have to have trained for it; it's not comparable to a racing bike. You can lose a lot of time.”

9.20 a.m.: Haug in the hotel – A French woman leads

It is a day to forget for Anne Haug. A day that began so promisingly with a good swim by the Bayreuth native. The 41-year-old has disappeared into her hotel right on the Promenade des Anglais. There she can hardly avoid the loudspeaker announcements from the live commentator at the transition zone and in the finish area. It is one thing to not be fit, to have a bad day, to have problems in the mountains – but to be slowed down by a defect and to be eliminated so early at the season's highlight is brutal. Haug's race ended after about an hour – the winner will cross the finish line after more than 8:30 hours.

On the course, a local hero, Marjolaine Pierré, has now taken the lead and after a good 40 kilometers she has already gained a lead of almost three minutes over the British rider Kat Matthews. Laura Philipp is 5:58 minutes behind. The field is spread out widely.

8.50 a.m.: Anne Haug is out!

Now it's official: Anne Haug has finished the race. After just 200 meters on the bike course, a flat tire ended the World Cup dreams of the 41-year-old exceptional athlete.

8.35 a.m.: Haug with defect a few meters after

Anne Haug had taken off her wetsuit, put on her helmet, grabbed her bike and headed towards the start of the cycling course. So far everything looked fine. But after a few meters she was standing again. At the side of the road: a defect in the rear wheel. They started to repair it. And she's still standing there. Is she still going? Is she getting out?

8.30 a.m.: What's going on with Anne Haug?

Anne Haug doesn't seem to be on the bike course. No pictures, no data, no information.

Update: She is still standing just past the transition zone. Something is wrong, Haug can't ride.

8.20 a.m.: Unfamiliar terrain – elevation, holes, speed bumps

180.2 kilometers with a good 2400 meters of elevation gain through the French countryside are now on the agenda. This is not only different from Hawaii, but also stands out from most long-distance races. And it's not just uphill climbing – the descents come at the end, when the athletes have already been on the road for a few hours and their heads and bodies are tired. The descents are tough: narrow roads, curves, holes, manhole covers and speed bumps. Technically demanding. The professional athletes have looked at the route in detail beforehand in training camps to know what to expect.

Haug told WELT: “You have to have driven the descent a few times beforehand because the road conditions are sometimes bad, in order to become more confident and to be prepared for everything.” Is the course worthy of a World Championship? “Of course. It's a very selective course.”

8.05 a.m.: Langridge first on land – Haug and Philipp strong

After 49:13 minutes, the British rider Fenella Langridge quickly reaches the shore, level with the Spaniard Marta Sanchez, and runs into the transition zone to her bike. Matthews follows in eighth place, 30 seconds behind, with Sodaro just behind.

Anne Haug was the first German to finish the swim – 3:54 minutes behind. Philipp was nine seconds behind. An excellent start to this World Championship for both of them, but especially for Laura Philipp. By comparison: a year ago in Hawaii, Haug was 4:30 minutes behind after swimming, although that was the gap to top swimmer Lucy Charles-Barclay, who was unable to compete here. The Brit had swum a lead of 1:30 over her pursuers. Philipp came out of the water in Hawaii more than seven minutes behind.

7.50 a.m.: The gap remains small

After half of the swim, Philipp and Haug are in the first group, about 1:40 minutes behind the leaders – a good position for the two of them. Philipp only taught himself to swim freestyle in his early 20s and came to triathlon late.

Daniela Bleymehl is one of those swimming in the second chasing group. Impressive and surprising: Matthews is still swimming at the front. The American Chelsea Sodaro, Hawaii winner in 2022, is also in this group. She had fallen behind several times, but kept fighting her way back. A feat of strength.

7.35 a.m.: Haug and Philipp fight – “I don’t understand swimming”

Where are Haug and Philipp? The field is divided into two large groups. While fellow favorite Kat Matthews is swimming at the front, the Germans are trying not to let the gap get too big – swimming is their weakest discipline. “It's a healthy love-hate relationship,” Haug told WELT before the start. A year ago, she brought the successful Magdeburg coach Bernd Berkhahn onto the team. His athletes won Olympic gold and silver in the women's and silver in the men's open water in Paris. Olympic pool champion Lukas Märtens also trains with him.

For Haug, it's still not a love affair; swimming remains her least favorite discipline. “Because I just don't understand it. I'm actually pretty strong, but why can't I use that power in the water to propel me forward? It's frustrating, but it's a question of technique.”

7.25 a.m.: The age groupers are in the water: Gabriele Weiler, oldest German

The age group athletes start their race in waves. Athletes from 65 countries, regions and regions are represented. On Thursday afternoon, many of them marched along the promenade in the so-called “Parade of Nations” – a ceremonial act that is traditionally part of the Ironman World Championship.

With 447 registered athletes, the USA is the most strongly represented, followed by Great Britain (150), Germany (124), France (83) and Australia (54). But athletes from countries such as Bermuda, Kazakhstan and Vietnam are also now on the swimming course. The oldest: Missy Lestrange from the USA at 72 years old. From Germany it is Gabriele Weiler at 67 years old. They started for DJK Schwäbisch Gmünd.

7.15 a.m.: The women’s Ironman World Championship has begun – in a wetsuit

First the Marseillaise, the national anthem of France, is played – then it begins: Like in Hawaii, the World Championships in Nice begin with a water start about 25 meters from the shore. Anne Haug, Laura Philipp and the other professionals have started the race. 3.86 kilometers in the Mediterranean, divided into two laps or, better: in a double rectangular course. The sea is slightly wavy, the water temperature is only 21.2 degrees, which means that wetsuits are allowed. For professionals, the limit is 22.9 degrees, for age group athletes 24.5 degrees.

In addition to Haug and Philipp, seven other German professionals are taking part: Daniela Bleymehl, Katharina Wolff, Laura Jansen, Merle Brunée, Anne Reischmann, Laura Zimmermann and Julia Skala. Svenja Thoes had to cancel her start after a cycling accident in mid-August in which she broke her elbow.

7.00 a.m.: The starting number “1” is missing at short notice

It is not where the bike of starting number 1 should be in the transition zone. Briton Lucy Charles-Barclay, who won in Hawaii in 2023 ahead of Haug and Philipp, had to cancel her start at short notice on Saturday afternoon – due to pain in her leg and after a medical check. The injury is not serious, but the withdrawal is a lesson from the past: She won her Hawaii victory with a calf injury and had to take a long break afterwards. She had also competed with a hip injury.

6.50 a.m.: Why Nice and not the usual Big Island?

There has already been an Ironman World Championship outside Hawaii – in St. George, Utah – but that was due to the pandemic. The short version is: for the first time, organizer Ironman separated the men's and women's races spatially and temporally for the year 2023 in order to have predominantly larger starting fields in the age groups and also to give the women more attention in their own race. The discussions and criticism were great.

In October 2022, there was a separation by gender for the first time, with starting fields twice as large in each case – however, both races took place two days apart in Hawaii. The island saw this as an exception and it cannot succeed as a permanent solution. In 2023, the men started in Nice and the women competed in Hawaii. Now it is the other way around, the men have their World Cup on October 26th.

6.45 a.m.: Bonjour de Nice!

The countdown is on. 35 minutes to go until the starting signal for the professional triathletes is given here on the Côte d'Azur. It is still dark, the sun will rise around the time the race begins, and the Promenade des Anglais and the beach are bustling with activity, but calm and tense. Professionals and age group athletes, coaches and spectators are milling around near the start.

When the men held their World Championships in Nice for the first time last year – and the women then went to Hawaii as usual – a Frenchwoman, Sam Laidlow, won. Patrick Lange fought his way to second place ahead of the Dane Magnus Ditlev with an impressive comeback during the run. Laidlow needed 8:06:22 hours for the challenging course. By comparison: Norwegian Gustav Iden won in Hawaii in 2022 in 7:40:24 hours. It will be a long day in Nice.

WELT editor Melanie Haack has been reporting on the world of sport outside of football since 2011, especially on triathlon and fitness topics.