IRONMAN 70.3 Sharm El-SheikhVerified
IRONMAN 70.3 Sharm El-Sheikh: 91 km bike leg, 457 m of climbing. Elevation profile, what the terrain asks of you, the weather this race day usually brings, and how to pace this course.
Course intel
The course starts on El Salam Road, joins the main highway and rides two rolling laps of about 18 km each on desert high ground at around 90 to 100 m, then heads back to the hotel zone for T2. There is a climb and descent of about 90 m at the start and finish, and the middle rolls gently between 50 and 100 m, for about 460 m of elevation gain; the organizers describe it as a smooth stretch built for speed and rhythm. Mid-October days on the Red Sea are still hot, and the desert highway has no shade and is often windy: pace the rollers by power, not by speed.
Source: Adapted from the official course description (the course page on ironman.com)
The terrain on this course
- Flat (±1.2%) makes up 72%
- Main climb 1.1–3.5 km: 59 m of gain (avg 2.5%)
- Main climb 35.0–35.6 km: 30 m of gain (avg 5.0%)
- Main climb 77.1–77.9 km: 33 m of gain (avg 4.1%)
Speed score
The wind here is part of the terrain: ride the headwind sections to your range, not to the speedometer, and in crosswinds relax your upper body and stay low. The plan already has wind in every segment, so just ride the numbers.
Historical race-day weather (around 10-16): 27.6°C · Wind 5.7 m/s
0 to 100, and the higher it is the easier it is to post a good time. Points come off for terrain, for corners, and for the heat and wind this race has actually had over the last five years at the same time of year. Full explanation in the article “How the course score works”.