Klemen Suligoj's Wild Time in Venice

Ironman 70.3 Venice Jesolo - Experiencing the Venetian Riviera

Ironman 70.3 Venice-Jesolo is a very popular race in the city of Lido di Jesolo near Venice, Italy. Every year it attracts athletes from all over the world that wish to experience the beauty of the Venetian Riviera. In 2023, 3000 athletes from 64 countries took part in an Age-Group only race.

Travel and accommodation couldn’t be easier, which is probably another reason why the area is popular worldwide. Jesolo is located just 34 km from Marco Polo Airport in Venice and the venue is easily accessible by either car or public transport. Along the coastline where the event takes place, lie numerous hotels and other accommodations. All mentioned makes a lot of athletes stay longer than just for the race weekend and allows them to explore the Veneto region.

The race is very well organized and the area is well marked, although some flaws made life harder for athletes. The parking area was wild - literally and figuratively. Lack of proper organization meant that cars were parked all over the place, while a large part of the parking lot was a meadow with tall grass (up to my knees) made walking with bikes and other race gear even harder.

The start and finish area and the transition zone are approximately 10-15 minutes apart which one has to account for and make sure he doesn’t forget anything as going up and down can be costly.

The transition zone is one of the wildest ones you’ll ever see. Firstly, it’s split in half, left one and right one. In the middle, there is a tall transportable bridge with an 8% incline. To make things even more confusing, you enter and leave transition from different sides each time.

Once you leave the swim, you run from the coastline to the bridge (approximately 300m) and cross it for the first time (if your legs don’t feel quite warm after the swim, this will warm them up for sure!). You start the bike on the same side you entered the transition, but finish the bike on the other side; so if you turned right into the transition the first time, you now have to go left. Running part once again starts with athletes running over the bridge before entering the run course.

The race starts on a sandy beach and athletes can calm their nerves by enjoying the sunrise while staring at calm, blue sea (if you have luck with the weather, at least). The swimming course is pretty straightforward with only 4 turns - 3 left turns before a right turn onto the shore.

The bike course is completely flat, but that doesn’t make it easy. There are many tight, sharp corners as you navigate your way up, down and all around the large motorways. You have to cross four transportable bridges (same ones as the one in transition) and many more pedestrian bridges along the way.

Besides these technical aspects, the road surface is rough, especially in the middle part (from km 30-70). You have to watch out for potholes that caused many flats and crashes as well as water bottles, nutrition products and even bike parts that flew all over on some of the roughest segments.

Lastly, there’ve also been complaints about drafting and people riding in large groups. I’ve witnessed some of these groups myself. While I am against drafting or breaking rules of any kind, I also have to defend the organizers a bit and say that with so many athletes on the course and the roads being narrow and rugged, it’s very hard for the officials to spot and control every group that forms. I’ve seen the officials giving away penalties and the penalty tent crowded at the entrance to the transition area which means some of the rule breakers did get caught. I’ll stop the debate here and let every athlete decide for themselves whether enough is being done.

The run course is absolutely stunning and divided into three loops of 7 km. In the first part, you run on the main road with hotels, bars, restaurants and spectators on each side. The second part goes along the beach all the way up to the lighthouse where you either go straight to the finish line or turn right into another loop. There are a couple of tight corners on the run as well, especially on the beach site where you have to navigate narrow 90-degree turns while running around a beach bar with sand all over and on each side of the path.

The street part of the course is nice and cool, but you really started to feel the heat while running on the beach, so taking care of hydration on many aid stations (there was one every 2 km) is vital.

Once you navigate your way through all three loops, you run in a semi-circle almost up to the lighthouse before turning left into the final finish line straight. The finish line is directly on the beach, as well as the post-race changing tents, catering etc.

The finish area is where there’s most room for improvement. What stood out for me was that there was no water or other nutrition at the finish area, but rather in the catering area about 300m away. There were also no showers available despite the fact we were literally on the beach.

While beautiful, all the sand was really difficult to navigate through once you finished the race and at least some carpeted paths would be nice. Lastly, post-race catering was a big disappointment. Each athlete got a small box of pasta (I’d say no more than 30g), some dry crackers and a small pie with bananas and water also being available. Despite the small portions, organizers ran out of pasta by the time 5-hour finishers started rolling in, so most of athletes didn’t get a (proper) post-race meal one would expect.

Overall, I would say Ironman 70.3 Venice-Jesolo is a beautiful race that is worth considering if an athlete wishes to experience cycling in the picturesque Italian countryside and racing along the coastline.