Building for this one? 70.3 training plan covers the sessions, the weekly shape and how the block is paced. The R.A.C.E. Framework explains why it is built that way.
Your race, your reality
Debrief, recover and choose what comes next
Three honest inputs. Your first answer appears here; no email wall and no generic plan.
Course risk: The rolling course makes bike restraint and run durability decisive.
“A proper French endurance town with a lake swim right in the centre. Rolling rather than flat, so hold something back for the second half of the bike.”
Abraham Spring: founder, Unbroken
The race
Vichy has hosted long course racing for years and the town treats it properly. The swim is in the Lac d'Allier in the centre of town, the bike rolls through Auvergne countryside, and the run follows the riverbank parkland. It is one of the better-supported 70.3s in France and an easy one to travel to as a group.
Your race decision brief
The evidence, translated into a decision.
This is not another difficulty score. It connects verified course evidence to the athlete constraints you have already shared with Unbroken.
Start with the course reality below, then use your hours, experience and weakest discipline to test the fit.
Distance70.3Official catalogue
Bike load1142m GPX gainGPX-derived
Historical conditions25.8°C · 12.9 km/h wind10-year context
IRONMAN publishes no route file for this leg, so there is no course map to draw from.
One loop of the Allier, calm and wide, usually swum as the sun comes up. River water at dawn is colder than the forecast suggests, so get in before the start if you can.
Bike90 km
One lap
One loop through Châteldon and the green Livradois-Forez, including a steady shaded climb to La Guillermie and a mix of descents and false flats afterwards. The false flats are where people lose the run.
Run21.1 km
2 laps
Two flat, fast laps around the Lac d'Allier and through the parks of Vichy. Compact and well supported, and easy to run too hard early because it feels so comfortable.
Bike elevation, drawn from the official GPX. The vertical scale is held at a fixed 200m so a flat course looks flat rather than being stretched to fill the chart.Run elevation, drawn from the official GPX. The vertical scale is held at a fixed 200m so a flat course looks flat rather than being stretched to fill the chart.
Cut-offs8 hours overall
Not yet confirmed for this edition: bike elevation gain, aid station spacing, water temperature. We publish these only once they are on the official course page, so check there before you pace off anything here.
Bike · GPX-derived91.5 km · 1142m gainStatus observed · sample 1,778 route points · confidence high · verified 2026-08-13
Run · GPX-derived21 km · 53m gainStatus observed · sample 364 route points · confidence high · verified 2026-08-13
Historical climate · historical_api15.1–25.8°C air · 12.9 km/h median daily max wind · 0 mm median rainStatus observed · sample 150 days · confidence high. Ten prior calendar years, 15-day window centred on the current race date; historical context, not a forecast.
Travel · official sourceClermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport (CFE) · 55 kmStatus observed · sample not applicable · confidence high. Vichy has direct rail connections and race-day athlete shuttles from the station and central hotels. A car is not required.
Observed finishing evidenceAwaiting 50+ authorised resultsStatus pending · sample 0 · confidence pending. No modelled score is presented as observed performance.
70.3. Pick the distance that fits your training runway, not your ego: the right distance is the one you can arrive at fresh.
How hard is the course?
Road terrain, rolling profile. Rolling Allier countryside
What is the swim like?
Lac d'Allier in the centre of town. Wetsuit-legal, usually 20-22°C. Practise open water before race week, not during it.
How long do I need to train for it?
Race day is 23 August 2026. For the 70.3, a proper recovery-led build wants about 12 weeks, which means starting around 31 May 2026. Later starts still work: the block compresses honestly rather than pretending, and it always anchors to the exact race date.
How do I enter?
This edition has passed. Check the official event page for any future edition, entry status and pricing once the organiser publishes them.
Photograph of Vichy, Auvergne, France: Tabl-trai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Not official race photography.
This listing is for information only. Unbroken is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by IRONMAN 70.3 Vichy or its organiser. Details are based on publicly available information; names are used descriptively to identify the event. For accurate, up-to-date information and entry, always use the official event website.
