Vitoria will not have IRONMAN 70.3

We echo this news published by the newspaper Noticias de Alava, where they say that Vitoria will not have a middle distance test.

The capital of Alava will not finally have an Ironman 70.3, the brand's medium distance triathlon, despite the interest of the company and the organization in which it will be held.

The Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council rejected Ironman's proposal for the set-up of the event, planned for the Saturday before the Ironman main, which will be held on July 12 next year.

The entry of the multinational sports company in the Gasteiztarra triathlon has been a great boost for the test, which brought 14 last July to 2.100 participants from all over the world. But nevertheless, The need for more resources for your organization has led to the elimination of medium distance triathlon, the most popular race among Alava athletes due to its lower physical demand.

The intention of the organization was to do it on a different date

The intention of the company after the success of the first edition of the Ironman Vitoria-Gasteiz was to celebrate an Ironman 70.3 on a different date than the main event, as happens in Barcelona and Lanzarote. However, this was a problem due to the logistical difficulty of cutting the traffic on the roads through which the competition, the fencing and the infrastructure of the finish line.

For this reason, the organization offered to hold the medium distance triathlon the day before the main event to be able to use the same infrastructure for both races. However, the City Council believes that this would mean "using twice as many municipal resources" as they would be "two days of traffic cuts, police shifts and volunteers."

DIFFERENT POSITIONS

The decision taken by the technicians of Economic Promotion and Sports, as well as the departments of Sports, Economic Promotion and the mayor himself was a surprise to the director of the race, Eduardo Martínez, who on several occasions had moved the interest of recovering the medium distance test by the City Council. In fact, this was confirmed yesterday by the government team, which had been given until the August 4 to give a response to the organization.

“The celebration of the Half was of our interest, thinking about the local athletes. Our proposal was to do it as it was done with the triathlon, the two races on the same day, but the organization has told us that they must take place on different days ”, they assured from the Consistory.

In addition, the organizers demanded that the financial contribution made by the institutions be duplicated, something that the City Council has not accepted.

In any case, the municipal government recalls that in 2018 it was agreed “a three-year sponsorship, with an important institutional contribution and that it is also absolutely guaranteed for 2020”. For Eduardo Martínez, a great opportunity is therefore lost to have proof of the popularity of the Ironman 70.3, something that local athletes, hospitality and shops will especially accuse.