The professional field will be one of the most exciting ever this year with a strong field of male and female participants. Headlining the men’s field will be defending champion Tim Van Berkel and 2016 IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Tim Reed, undertakings to be exceptionally striking and intense. Joining the race there are prominent male triathletes such as Sam Betten, Mike Phillips and Brad Williams… The women’s side will feature defending champion Anna Eberhardt and former two-time IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam Champion Caroline Steffen. The other top women will include recent IRONMAN 70.3 Davao champion and former IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam podium finisher Radka Vodickova, last year’s 2nd and 3rd place finishers Dimity Lee Duke and Leanne Szeto.
70.3 Vietnam participants will be treated to a fast and scenic course that begins with a 1.9–km ocean swim in front of the beautiful Hyatt Regency Da Nang Resort & Spa, host hotel and race central. From there, athletes will enjoy a scenic two–loop 90–km bike course on smooth, well paved roads that runs along Danang´s pristine coastline and past some of the city´s key landmarks. The final 21–km out–and–back run course is flat and passes by many of Danang´s famous beach resorts before returning to the Hyatt for a stunning beach front finish. With tropical conditions, this warm-weather destination event is the perfect mid–season race to prepare athletes for their summer IRONMAN events.
Commenting on TECHCOMBANK IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam 2018, Huynh Van Hung, Director of Da Nang Department of Culture and Sport, said: "Da Nang is proud to welcome the return of IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam 2018 with Techcombank as new title sponsor. People's Committee of Da Nang City has included IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam into the city’s annual celebrations and into our 5-year plans when seeing the growth and developing of this sporting event in past 3 years. The government will support and accompany this significant sport in years to come, including course development, security, public safety and medical services to assist the TECHCOMBANK IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam in becoming one of the best events in Asia for years to come.”
Geoff Meyers, Managing Director of IRONMAN Asia shared his thoughts on the growth of triathlon in Vietnam and the region, "It is exciting to see how much the Vietnamese have embraced the sport of triathlon over the past few years since the first IRONMAN 70.3 Vietnam event in 2015. Although IRONMAN is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, it is still a relatively young sport across Asia and especially in Vietnam where IRONMAN clearly has a bright future. At the same time, the Da Nang event has become a major destination race for our IRONMAN athletes around the world as evidenced by the large number of countries represented each year and the strong professional field that returns year after year.”
Individual participants will have a chance to qualify for both the IRONMAN 70.3 Asia Pacific Championship in Cebu, Philippines on August 5th and the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa on September 1st and 2nd 2018 with 50 slots and 30 slots, respectively based on top placements in their age groups.
Professionals compete for P-500 points plus $15,000 prize purse.
MALE PRO:
1 REED TIM AUS (Australia)
2 VAN BERKEL TIM AUS (Australia)
3 BETTEN SAM AUS (Australia)
4 BANACH BARTOSZ POL (Poland)
5 MIZIARSKI PAWEL POL (Poland)
6 WILLIAMS BRAD USA (United States of America)
7 ACEVEDO VAN ARCKEN RODRIGO COL (Colombia)
8 GROCH NATHAN AUS (Australia)
9 LECALLIER GUILLAUME FRA (France)
10 PHILLIPS MIKE NZL (New Zealand)
FEMALE PRO:
26 EBERHARDT ANNA HUN (Hungary)
27 DUKE DIMITY LEE AUS (Australia)
28 STEFFEN CAROLINE CHE (Switzerland)
29 LEWIS CABALLERO CINDY CAN (Canada)
30 SZETO LEANNE HKG (Hong Kong)
31 VODICKOVA RADKA CZE (Czech Republic)
32 LESTER SARAH AUS (Australia)
33 DENNIS LAURA AUS (Australia)
34 TYACK LISA AUS (Australia)
35 WOOD LAURA NZL (New Zealand)