Ironman have announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Lagardère Sports’ endurance division, which includes races in three continents and eight countries, including ITU races.
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The long-course race organiser will now own and/or operate an additional five International Triathlon Union (ITU) events, four marathons, six cycling races as well as a number of other participation events. These events are expected to serve an estimated 140,000 participants in 2016.
“Lagardère Sports has built innovative and world-class events which, when added to our global event portfolio, further builds our company and strengthens the entire endurance business under the roof of Wanda Sports Holding,” said Andrew Messick, Ironman’s Chief Executive Officer. “These iconic events, and the teams that have created and managed them, will further strengthen our position in triathlon, expand our portfolio in running, and establish ourselves in cycling.”
ITU PARTNERSHIP
Ironman and the ITU have recently worked together on unified and global standard rules for triathlon, as well as several athlete development initiatives. With this acquisition, Ironman will now own and operate the ITU World Triathlon Hamburg (pictured above), ITU World Triathlon Leeds, ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi, ITU World Triathlon Stockholm and ITU World Triathlon Cape Town.
With Ironman’s current ownership of the ITU World Triathlon Gold Coast, it now owns and operates six of the nine events in the ITU World Triathlon Series.
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“Lagardère Sports has been a long-standing and fantastic partner to the ITU. It is with their commitment to the sport of triathlon that we raised the bar and brought triathlon to the masses over the last eight years. I fully believe the transition of these events to Ironman will serve to further strengthen our sport on a global level,” said Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC Member.
Listed below are the races to be added to the Ironman portfolio. We’ll have more on how this story will affect age-group athletes when we’ve spoken to both the ITU and Ironman.
ITU
ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi
ITU World Triathlon Cape Town
ITU World Triathlon Hamburg
ITU World Triathlon Leeds
ITU World Triathlon Stockholm
Cycling
Hamburg Cyclassics
Velothon Berlin
Velothon Wales
Velothon Copenhagen
Velothon Stockholm
Velothon Stuttgart
Running
Hamburg Marathon
Hawkes Bay International Marathon
Marathon de Bordeaux
Queenstown Marathon
Music Run Hamburg
Music Runs in Germany, UK, France, Sweden & South Africa
Multisport, Festival, Other
Duathlon Cape Town
Duathlon Sandton