Posted: September 3, 2005

Triathlon: The IRONMAN France Team will be strong at tomorrow’s premiere of the Monaco Half-Ironman

More than 1000 triathletes will be at the Larvotto Beach in Monaco tomorrow, when at 7h00 the gun will be shot off to start the first edition of the Half-IRONMAN Monaco Triathlon. Amongst them, there will be nine athletes of the IRONMAN France Team that definitely have the potential to cross the Finishline first on Avenue de Monte Carlo– six of them have already won an IRONMAN race!

Nine athletes of the IRONMAN France Team are already in Monaco to participate in tomorrow’s Half-IRONMAN Monaco. Hervé Faure, Gilles Reboul, Cyrille Neveu, Charly Loisel, Xavier Le Floch, René Rovera and Gaël Mainard as well as the female team members Sophie Delemer and Estelle Patou. Next to being part of the IRONMAN France Team, they all have one goal in common: to prove how strong this team is!

“I am really looking forward to this race because it is a great course… and I like hilly courses a lot!” says Hervé Faure. The 29 year old triathlete from Triathl’Aix who won the first IRONMAN France – Nice in June with an impressing performance is ready to compete against the others. Just like his team members, he is a top favourite for this race. Five of his fellow members have already won an IRONMAN or a Half-IRONMAN race.

Although the race will stay exciting until the very end, but still the bike course will be decisive. “If you look into the start list you will see there are not too many Americans. They are afraid of the bike course it seems.” Says with humour Mark Allen, 6 times IRONMAN World Champion and part of the organising team. “The IRONMAN France Team is definitely to watch out for!”

IRONMAN France Team at the Half-IRONMAN Monaco Triathlon:

 BIB         Name                                    Club                                       Best Result
1             Hervé Faure                         Triathl'Aix                              Winner IRONMAN France - Nice 2005
3             Gilles Reboul                      Dijon Triathlon                    3rd IRONMAN France - Nice 2005
8             Cyrille Neveu                       Triathl'Aix                              Winner Embrunman 2003
9             Charly Loisel                       Poissy Triathlon                  5th Half-IRONMAN Great Britain 2003
10           Xavier Le-Floch                   Lorient Triathlon                  Winner Half-IIRONMAN Sherborne Castle 2004
11           René Rovera                       Triathl'Aix                              Winner IRONMAN Lanzarote 2004
12           Gaël Mainard                       TM Gréoux Les Bains        2nd at the Half-IRONMAN Goodiwindi 2003
55           Sophie Delemer                 Triathl'Aix                              Winner IRONMAN Switzerland 2004
59           Estelle Patou                       Beauvais                              Winner Embrunman 2004

 Half-IRONMAN Monaco Triathlon:
Start: 7h00 Larvotto Beach
1.9km swim | 90km bike | 21.1km run
Slots for IRONMAN World Championships Hawaii 2006: 30
www.halfironman-monaco.com