Last weekend’s Ironman France Nice and Ironman 70.3 Nice were cancelled two days before the start gun. Around 4,500 athletes had already arrived on the Côte d’Azur. The reason, officially and unambiguously, was heat.

France, and much of Western Europe, had been experiencing a prolonged heatwave for ten days leading up to race weekend, with temperatures exceeding 40°C across parts of the country. On Friday, June 26th, the Alpes-Maritimes Prefecture issued a formal cancellation order for both events, citing the extension of the orange heatwave alert and the need to protect not just athletes but also the volunteers, medical teams, and emergency services already under significant strain across the region. The prefecture stated that the weather conditions, combined with the prolonged heatwave episode affecting the national territory for the past ten days, led to the cancellation both to safeguard the health and safety of all participants and to avoid placing any additional strain on emergency and healthcare services already under significant pressure.

Ironman respected the call, said it was working with the City of Nice on potential solutions including a replacement date, and promised a further update to affected athletes by July 8th. The 70.3 was also the final qualifying opportunity for elite women to secure a spot at this year’s World Championships, that slot will not be awarded.

Frankfurt’s European Championship ran the same weekend under the same heatwave but stayed on the calendar, with the bike cut from 180km to 125km and the run reduced to a half marathon. Two races, same conditions, two different outcomes! Though, I would say that is also partly a reflection of the different infrastructure and medical capacity available in an urban event versus Nice’s technical, point-to-point course through the hills above the city.

However, worth noting is that for Nice, the heatwave cancellation landed on top of a relationship between Ironman and the City of Nice that has been under serious strain.

Nice’s new mayor, Éric Ciotti, elected on a platform of fiscal responsibility and 60 million euros in budget cuts, held a press conference in April where he announced his intention to cancel the city’s financial commitment to hosting the Ironman 70.3 World Championship (a subsidy of 1.5 to 1.6 million euros). Ironman ultimately waived the hosting fee to keep the September World Championship on the calendar, absorbing the financial hit rather than losing the event entirely.

Just one day before the race cancellation, Ironman CEO Scott DeRue and Nice city officials held a press conference to announce a renewed partnership through 2029. The city of Nice and The IRONMAN Group officially confirmed a renewal of their partnership until 2029, covering both Ironman France Nice and Ironman 70.3 Nice. The regular (!) races are staying. Nice is not going anywhere as an Ironman venue.

But the World Championship (!) story is a different matter entirely. Ironman and the Ville de Nice announced that it will not be possible to continue hosting the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice in 2028 and 2030. Chattanooga in Tennessee has already been announced as the location for the 2027 70.3 Worlds.

Nice is staying on the calendar. The world championships are not coming back. And whether late June in the south of France remains a sensible slot for a full-distance race in a warming climate is a question the sport will quietly be asking itself for a while. I would think that yes, it will remain, and that athletes will simply better prepare for the heat which took us by surprise this time around. Fool me once...