Guide
The fastest and hardest Ironman bike courses
How much does the course matter? We ran all 89 triathlon courses in Cadence Rides through the same model at the same power. At 200 watts you ride the 90 kilometres of Belgrado at 35.0 km/h on average, and those of Nice at 27.2 km/h. Over a full distance, Cozumel (5:20) and Nice, full distance (6:17) are 57 minutes apart, even though Nice, full distance is 15 kilometres shorter.
How it was worked out
A 75 kg rider on an 8 kg road bike holds an even 200 watts for the whole course, with no wind, no drafting and no stops. It's the same model the app uses for your predicted finish time. The list is ranked by average speed, because not every course is exactly 90 or 180 kilometres.
Half distance (70.3)
| Course | Distance | Climbing | Time at 200 W | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgrado (Servië) | 90.0 km | 24 m | 2:34 | 35.0 km/h |
| 2 | Jesolo (Italy) | 89.8 km | 6 m | 2:34 | 35.0 km/h |
| 3 | Erkner (Germany) | 88.2 km | 129 m | 2:31 | 35.0 km/h |
| 4 | Poznań (Poland) | 90.8 km | 73 m | 2:36 | 35.0 km/h |
| 5 | Westfriesland (Netherlands) | 91.3 km | 0 m | 2:37 | 34.9 km/h |
| 6 | Knokke-Heist (Belgium) | 90.2 km | 5 m | 2:35 | 34.9 km/h |
| 7 | Belek, Antalya (Turkey) | 90.0 km | 32 m | 2:35 | 34.9 km/h |
| 8 | Doha (Qatar) | 90.8 km | 51 m | 2:36 | 34.9 km/h |
| 9 | Duisburg (Germany) | 88.2 km | 34 m | 2:32 | 34.9 km/h |
| 10 | Davao (Filipijnen) | 90.2 km | 67 m | 2:35 | 34.9 km/h |
| 11 | Warschau, half distance (Poland) | 90.0 km | 85 m | 2:35 | 34.9 km/h |
| 12 | Penrith, Sydney (Australia) | 90.0 km | 114 m | 2:35 | 34.8 km/h |
| 13 | Tours (France) | 87.4 km | 124 m | 2:31 | 34.8 km/h |
| 14 | Bakoe (Azerbeidzjan) | 90.0 km | 94 m | 2:35 | 34.7 km/h |
| 15 | Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | 89.6 km | 118 m | 2:35 | 34.7 km/h |
| 16 | Málaga (Spain) | 89.8 km | 113 m | 2:35 | 34.7 km/h |
| 17 | Tallinn (Estonia) | 89.4 km | 205 m | 2:35 | 34.6 km/h |
| 18 | Sakhir (Bahrain) | 88.4 km | 150 m | 2:33 | 34.6 km/h |
| 19 | Goseong (Zuid-Korea) | 89.3 km | 190 m | 2:35 | 34.5 km/h |
| 20 | Laoag (Filipijnen) | 90.3 km | 161 m | 2:37 | 34.5 km/h |
| 21 | Leipzig (Germany) | 87.2 km | 220 m | 2:33 | 34.3 km/h |
| 22 | Hradec Králové (Czechia) | 89.3 km | 359 m | 2:37 | 34.2 km/h |
| 23 | Cervia (Italy) | 89.5 km | 199 m | 2:38 | 34.0 km/h |
| 24 | Taupō, half distance (New Zealand) | 89.6 km | 411 m | 2:39 | 33.8 km/h |
| 25 | Sharm-el-Sheikh (Egypte) | 91.2 km | 423 m | 2:42 | 33.8 km/h |
| 26 | Les Sables-d'Olonne (France) | 92.9 km | 405 m | 2:46 | 33.6 km/h |
| 27 | Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain) | 90.0 km | 481 m | 2:43 | 33.2 km/h |
| 28 | Valencia (Spain) | 89.2 km | 506 m | 2:42 | 33.1 km/h |
| 29 | Salalah (Oman) | 89.3 km | 480 m | 2:44 | 32.7 km/h |
| 30 | Rockford, Illinois (USA) | 90.5 km | 575 m | 2:46 | 32.7 km/h |
| 31 | Punta del Este (Uruguay) | 90.5 km | 435 m | 2:47 | 32.6 km/h |
| 32 | Poreč (Kroatië) | 89.9 km | 673 m | 2:46 | 32.6 km/h |
| 33 | Alghero, Sardinië (Italy) | 90.1 km | 516 m | 2:47 | 32.4 km/h |
| 34 | Langkawi (Malaysia) | 88.4 km | 619 m | 2:45 | 32.1 km/h |
| 35 | Oceanside, Californië (USA) | 93.5 km | 641 m | 2:55 | 32.1 km/h |
| 36 | Helsingør (Denmark) | 89.9 km | 595 m | 2:49 | 32.0 km/h |
| 37 | Versailles (France) | 87.7 km | 612 m | 2:45 | 31.9 km/h |
| 38 | Remich, Moezel (Luxembourg) | 90.7 km | 592 m | 2:51 | 31.9 km/h |
| 39 | Jönköping (Sweden) | 90.0 km | 664 m | 2:50 | 31.8 km/h |
| 40 | Agadir (Marokko) | 88.3 km | 697 m | 2:47 | 31.7 km/h |
| 41 | Costa Navarino (Greece) | 90.0 km | 787 m | 2:52 | 31.5 km/h |
| 42 | Mont-Tremblant (Canada) | 88.8 km | 792 m | 2:49 | 31.5 km/h |
| 43 | Gdynia, half distance (Poland) | 88.1 km | 711 m | 2:49 | 31.3 km/h |
| 44 | Bolton (United Kingdom) | 89.5 km | 755 m | 2:53 | 31.0 km/h |
| 45 | Krakau (Poland) | 88.9 km | 863 m | 2:52 | 30.9 km/h |
| 46 | Muscat (Oman) | 89.8 km | 757 m | 2:55 | 30.8 km/h |
| 47 | Port Macquarie (Australia) | 90.3 km | 751 m | 2:58 | 30.5 km/h |
| 48 | Zell am See-Kaprun (Austria) | 89.4 km | 938 m | 2:56 | 30.5 km/h |
| 49 | Weymouth (United Kingdom) | 90.9 km | 892 m | 3:00 | 30.4 km/h |
| 50 | Cascais (Portugal) | 90.5 km | 799 m | 3:00 | 30.1 km/h |
| 51 | Mallorca (Spain) | 90.1 km | 842 m | 3:01 | 29.9 km/h |
| 52 | Kraichgau (Germany) | 88.5 km | 941 m | 2:58 | 29.9 km/h |
| 53 | Swansea, Wales (United Kingdom) | 90.1 km | 924 m | 3:02 | 29.8 km/h |
| 54 | Vichy (France) | 90.4 km | 909 m | 3:03 | 29.7 km/h |
| 55 | Rapperswil-Jona (Switzerland) | 84.9 km | 963 m | 2:53 | 29.5 km/h |
| 56 | Aix-en-Provence (France) | 86.8 km | 1,012 m | 2:57 | 29.4 km/h |
| 57 | Vilamoura, Algarve (Portugal) | 90.0 km | 1,096 m | 3:07 | 28.8 km/h |
| 58 | Nice, world championship 2026 (France) | 93.6 km | 1,286 m | 3:25 | 27.3 km/h |
| 59 | Nice (France) | 91.6 km | 1,287 m | 3:22 | 27.2 km/h |
Full distance
| Course | Distance | Climbing | Time at 200 W | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cozumel (Mexico) | 185.9 km | 35 m | 5:20 | 34.9 km/h |
| 2 | The Woodlands, Texas (USA) | 179.0 km | 150 m | 5:08 | 34.9 km/h |
| 3 | Davao, full distance (Filipijnen) | 180.8 km | 162 m | 5:11 | 34.9 km/h |
| 4 | Busselton (Australia) | 180.1 km | 93 m | 5:10 | 34.9 km/h |
| 5 | Hamburg (Germany) | 177.0 km | 148 m | 5:05 | 34.8 km/h |
| 6 | Panama City Beach, Florida (USA) | 182.8 km | 260 m | 5:15 | 34.8 km/h |
| 7 | Kalmar (Sweden) | 179.6 km | 235 m | 5:10 | 34.8 km/h |
| 8 | Tours, full distance (France) | 179.7 km | 430 m | 5:13 | 34.4 km/h |
| 9 | Calella, Barcelona (Spain) | 176.8 km | 417 m | 5:09 | 34.3 km/h |
| 10 | Muscat, full distance (Oman) | 180.0 km | 347 m | 5:15 | 34.3 km/h |
| 11 | Cervia, full distance (Italy) | 180.0 km | 401 m | 5:17 | 34.0 km/h |
| 12 | Tallinn, full distance (Estonia) | 179.2 km | 539 m | 5:17 | 34.0 km/h |
| 13 | Cairns (Australia) | 183.2 km | 722 m | 5:27 | 33.7 km/h |
| 14 | Kopenhagen (Denmark) | 176.7 km | 656 m | 5:16 | 33.6 km/h |
| 15 | Kona, Hawaï (USA) | 180.2 km | 986 m | 5:24 | 33.3 km/h |
| 16 | Vitoria-Gasteiz, full distance (Spain) | 180.0 km | 1,051 m | 5:27 | 33.0 km/h |
| 17 | Taupō (New Zealand) | 178.3 km | 1,137 m | 5:25 | 32.9 km/h |
| 18 | Frankfurt (Germany) | 125.0 km | 702 m | 3:48 | 32.9 km/h |
| 19 | Les Sables-d'Olonne, full distance (France) | 177.9 km | 986 m | 5:26 | 32.8 km/h |
| 20 | Langkawi, full distance (Malaysia) | 179.2 km | 1,076 m | 5:30 | 32.6 km/h |
| 21 | Klagenfurt (Austria) | 180.1 km | 1,629 m | 5:44 | 31.4 km/h |
| 22 | Port Macquarie, full distance (Australia) | 180.5 km | 1,344 m | 5:46 | 31.3 km/h |
| 23 | Lake Placid, New York (USA) | 179.0 km | 1,780 m | 5:47 | 30.9 km/h |
| 24 | Thun (Switzerland) | 179.8 km | 1,844 m | 5:51 | 30.8 km/h |
| 25 | Cascais, full distance (Portugal) | 179.6 km | 1,612 m | 5:58 | 30.1 km/h |
| 26 | Tenby, Wales (United Kingdom) | 178.3 km | 1,955 m | 5:56 | 30.0 km/h |
| 27 | Lanzarote (Spain) | 180.3 km | 2,557 m | 6:04 | 29.7 km/h |
| 28 | Vichy, full distance (France) | 180.6 km | 2,046 m | 6:07 | 29.5 km/h |
| 29 | Leeds (United Kingdom) | 178.1 km | 2,160 m | 6:12 | 28.7 km/h |
| 30 | Nice, full distance (France) | 170.7 km | 2,530 m | 6:17 | 27.2 km/h |
What it tells you
On a flat course such as Belgrado or Westfriesland, your position on the bike matters most: almost all your power goes into air resistance. You pedal the whole way, with no descent to recover on.
On a hard course such as Nice or Lanzarote, your weight counts too, and the trick is not to go too hard uphill. What you overspend there, you lose on the flat and on the run.
Every course page has the times at 150, 200, 250 and 300 watts and where the climbs are. In the app you work it out with your own weight and power, or find the power for your target time.
Organisers sometimes change their course; these are the courses as they are in Cadence Rides. Cadence Rides is not affiliated with IRONMAN.