Local support bringing top triathletes to IRONMAN Pro Series at 70.3 Geelong

The eyes of the triathlon world will be firmly focused on Victoria at the end of March with IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong set to be the opening round of the 2025 IRONMAN Pro Series.

The 2025 event will be held on Sunday 23 March and will welcome top professional triathletes from around the world as it kicks off the second year of the IRONMAN Pro Series, with the race set to be broadcast to a global audience.

The additional focus on the event with the IRONMAN Pro Series has been locked in thanks to the support of the Victorian Government through the Regional Events Fund and the City of Greater Geelong.

Victoria’s Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Steve Dimopoulos, welcomed news that athletes from around the world would be traveling to the event.

“We’re backing events like IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong because not only do they reinforce our reputation as Australia's sporting capital, they bring people from around the world to our great regional cities - backing local businesses and jobs," he said.

City of Greater Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj OAM said that the city is proud to continue to support the event.

“The City of Greater Geelong is proud to support the IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong and the IRONMAN Pro Series this year. It is our pleasure to welcome some of the world’s top professional triathletes to the region,” Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj OAM said. “Few events test human endurance like an IRONMAN 70.3, and we look forward to celebrating these athletes and showcasing our beautiful city on the global stage as thousands tune in to watch.”

Over 60 professional athletes will be on the start line to begin the IRONMAN Pro Series in Geelong, with reigning IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Jelle Geens headlining the list, with the Belgium-born, now Australian-based, athlete heading to Geelong for the first time.

“I’m very excited to start the year again and start at home in Australia. I’ve never actually been outside of driving distance of here on the Gold Coast so it will be cool to get to go to Melbourne and arrive there and then head to Geelong. We’re staying afterwards to celebrate my birthday, which will be a few days after, and my partner’s birthday. We’re looking forward to exploring a new part of Australia.

“I’m just really looking forward to that first race of the season, it’s a long build up, I want to say winter training but it’s summer training here, the build up towards that first race is a long process, lots of steps. I’m eager to start the season and see where I’m at,” he said. “I feel like I’m in a good place, but it will be good to see where I’m at in an actual race and how I stack up against some of the best guys in the world. I’m also excited to see also how Matt Hauser is doing, he’s super good at short course and making the step up for this race in Geelong so it will be exciting to see how he will compete and I just love racing, love competing against all these guys and try to win the race, that’s my goal. I come in with a mark on my back winning theTaupo race but in the end not much has changed, I still just want to enjoy racing and try to win the race of course.”

While it will be Geens’ first trip to Geelong, Melbourne professional triathlete Grace Thek is no stranger to the event, having raced there for the last seven years, finishing on the podium every time, including a breakthrough win back in 2023.

“I love that Geelong is the race opener for the IRONMAN Pro Series and we can highlight this great race in Australia,” said Thek. “It was exciting to be part of six of the Pro Series races last year and I love that these races bring great competition. I have no doubt there will be a cracking lineup this year in Geelong. 

“For me, Geelong is the place where it all started, with my first pro race and first IRONMAN 70.3 back in 2018. There is a sense of nostalgia but also me not wanting to break the streak,” she said. “I love racing in Australia, and being from Melbourne, this is the closest IRONMAN 70.3 to home. Given I’m on the road for so much of the year, it is special to race in front of family and friends, and alongside the local tri community. The Geelong community is always so welcoming, and it makes for a great weekend away.”

Carl Smith, Regional Director for The IRONMAN Group Oceania, said that the team was excited to have a global focus on IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong in 2025.

“We’re thrilled to have the 15^th running of IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong as the opening round of this year’s IRONMAN Pro Series,” said Smith. “The first year of the IRONMAN Pro Series was a great success and we can’t to kick 2025 off in Geelong.

“Our partnership with the Victorian Government through the Regional Events Fund and the City of Greater Geelong means that we’re able to take this event to more people than ever before, with the eyes of the triathlon world set to be firmly focused on IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong on Sunday 23 March,” he said.

IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong is set to welcome a host of the world’s top male and female professional triathletes to the region, along with more than 1,400 age group athletes who will take on a 1.9km swim, 90km ride and 21.1km run.

IRONMAN is continuing the IRONMAN Pro Series in 2025, building on the success of its inaugural year. The performance-based world series will continue to showcase and reward the world’s top professional triathletes as they vie for points and event prize money towards the title of IRONMAN Pro Series champion and their share of $1.7 million USD in year-end bonus pool payouts.   

The 2025 IRONMAN Pro Series will be contested over 18 events and 17 race locations, including a combination of six IRONMAN and eight IRONMAN 70.3 triathlons from around the globe as well as the IRONMAN World Championship women’s and men’s races and IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon.  

The 2025 schedule sees seven new race venues added to the calendar, including IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong, followed by the first IRONMAN Pro Series race in South Africa with the ISUZU IRONMAN South Africa African Championship race. In addition to the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Marbella, there are three other IRONMAN 70.3 triathlons in Europe added to the schedule with the IRONMAN 70.3 Venice-Jesolo and IRONMAN 70.3 Aix-en-Provence races, both taking place in May, and the IRONMAN 70.3 Swansea triathlon, the first IRONMAN Pro Series race to take place on UK soil, happening in July. The series will also take a new stop in Maryland with the IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman triathlon in June.  

For more information on IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong visit:https://www.ironman.com/im703-geelong