Ironman France 2019: Age Group Results and Kona Qualification

Latest statistics for Ironman France

After a big weekend of Ironman racing in Europe I’m starting my reviews with Ironman France. Ironman France is a large race which receives the standard 40 Kona slot allocation for age group athletes. This year’s race saw adjustments to the bike and run due to conditions with both shortened (152km and 30km respectively). Changes of that magnitude obviously have a significant impact on results when we look to compare with previous years.

Distribution of Finisher Splits at Ironman France 2019 Compared with 2009-2018

Given the level of adjustment that took place we can only really compare how much quicker this year’s race was. The swim remained the full distance and doesn’t differ hugely from the course norms. Both bike and run are significantly quicker leading to an overall distribution about 1:20 faster at the median. That the difference isn’t bigger given the changes goes some way to reflect the conditions on the day.

DNS and DNF Rates at Ironman France
Year
Listed Athletes
Swim Finish
Swim DNS/DNF
Bike Finish
Bike DNF
Run Finish
Run DNF
Overall DNS/DNF
2009
2741
2054
25.1%
2054
2323
15.2%
2011
2617
1733
33.8%
1733
2054
21.1%
2012
2306
2270
1.6%
2192
3.4%
2051
6.4%
11%
2013
2783
2473
11.1%
2438
1.4%
2347
3.7%
14.8%
2014
2759
2504
9.2%
2407
3.9%
2324
3.4%
15.7%
2015
2783
2475
11.1%
2385
3.6%
2247
5.8%
19.1%
2016
2885
2570
10.9%
2495
2.9%
2407
3.5%
16.6%
2017
2070
1848
10.7%
1760
4.8%
1627
7.6%
20.9%
2018
2557
2538
0.7%
2457
3.2%
2374
3.4%
6.9%
2019
2537
2514
0.9%
2380
5.3%
2278
4.3%
10.1%

Despite the shorter bike the DNF rate this year is one of the highest at that stage. Run DNFs are average however and the overall DNF rate isn’t significant. We’d expect a shortened course to reduce DNF rates normally so it’s interesting to note the increase on the bike.

Median Splits by Age Group at Ironman France 2019
Median Splits by Age Group at Ironman France 2009-2018

Age group medians obviously reflect the impact of the shortened course with bike and ru trending faster for each age group.

Top 10 Nationalities at Ironman France
Country
Count
Percentage
France
1548
54.7
United Kingdom
217
7.7
Italy
203
7.2
Belgium
172
6.1
Spain
126
4.4
United States
77
2.7
Germany
59
2.1
Sweden
47
1.7
Netherlands
42
1.5
Switzerland
38
1.3
Ironman France 2019 Predicted Kona Qualifiers by Country
Country
Percentage of Slots
Percentage of Field
France
45.0
54.7
Germany
10.0
2.1
Spain
10.0
4.4
Italy
7.5
7.2
Belgium
5.0
6.1
Netherlands
5.0
1.5
United States
2.5
2.7
Russia
2.5
0.7
Sweden
2.5
1.7
United Kingdom
2.5
7.7
Switzerland
2.5
1.3
Brazil
2.5
0.4
Kazakhstan
2.5
0.1

As with most European races France draws a wide range of nationalities and shares Kona slots among them.

Changes in Male Finishing Times by Position at Ironman France
Changes in Female Finishing Times by Position at Ironman France

Ironman France is no stranger to hot conditions and as long standing Ironman races go it’s been quite variable over the years for performances. Again we can’t really compare this year due to the major adjustments to the course.

Ironman France 2019 Predicted Kona Qualification Times
Age Group
Slots
Winner
Average Kona Qualifier
Final Qualifier
M18-24
1
07:53:31
07:53:31
07:53:31
M25-29
2
07:57:35
07:59:35
08:01:35
M30-34
4
07:53:05
08:07:15
08:22:42
M35-39
4
08:05:22
08:13:26
08:19:04
M40-44
5
08:07:38
08:17:25
08:25:11
M45-49
5
07:55:00
08:15:24
08:24:38
M50-54
3
08:34:44
08:42:48
08:53:09
M55-59
2
08:43:45
08:56:41
09:09:37
M60-64
1
09:10:50
09:10:50
09:10:50
M65-69
1
11:14:26
11:14:26
11:14:26
M70-74
1
13:06:04
13:06:04
13:06:04
M75-79
1
13:18:43
13:18:43
13:18:43
F18-24
1
10:47:21
10:47:21
10:47:21
F25-29
1
09:47:40
09:47:40
09:47:40
F30-34
1
08:49:48
08:49:48
08:49:48
F35-39
1
08:58:35
08:58:35
08:58:35
F40-44
1
09:38:42
09:38:42
09:38:42
F45-49
1
09:02:44
09:02:44
09:02:44
F50-54
1
10:13:45
10:13:45
10:13:45
F55-59
1
11:25:35
11:25:35
11:25:35
F60-64
1
13:05:47
13:05:47
13:05:47
F65-69
1
13:19:41
13:19:41
13:19:41

Based on the athlete list I’ve calculated the slot allocation and automatic qualification times for Ironman France. Exact numbers may vary and roll down will influence final qualifying times too. You can compare with other races on my Kona qualification page, but expect this year’s times to be much faster than usual.

Top Twenty Male Performances and Kona Qualification by Age Group at Ironman France 2019
Top Twenty Female Performances and Kona Qualification by Age Group at Ironman France 2019

Finally when we review the top 20 of each age group we again see how much difference the shortening made to times. This year’s race will be excluded from future analysis of Ironman France as the results are so heavily skewed by the course alterations.

You can access a spreadsheet of the full results from Ironman France 2019 on my Google Drive.

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