IRONMAN Lanzarote

Event information

About the event

IRONMAN Lanzarote is the race that put the island on the long-distance triathlon map, and the 34th edition was held on Saturday 23 May 2026. Club La Santa has been its home for decades, and the race starts and finishes in Puerto del Carmen.

What sets it apart is not the distance, which is the same as any IRONMAN, but the bike leg: 180.2 km in a single lap around the whole island, with more than 2,500 metres of climbing and wind all but guaranteed. That is why athletes use it as a benchmark, and why it draws more than 1,000 entrants from over 70 countries.

The three legs

• Swim, 3.8 km: two open-water laps off Playa Grande, with a rolling start from 07:00. The sea is around 20 ºC in May and wetsuits are allowed under ITU rules.
• Bike, 180.2 km: one lap, taking in the climb to Tabayesco and the Mirador del Río in the north, the crossing of La Geria in the centre and the Timanfaya National Park in the south. More than 2,500 m of climbing.
• Run, 42.195 km: along the coast, finishing on Avenida de las Playas in Puerto del Carmen. The available sources disagree on the number of laps and the exact route, so that detail is left unconfirmed here.

The overall time limit is 17 hours. Individual leg cut-offs are not published in open sources.

Entry and slots

Entry for 2026 closed on 1 May, or earlier if the race sold out, and included accident insurance. There is no record of a federation licence being required, but check-in is in person and you need a passport or ID card.

The race carries 100 qualifying slots for the World Championship in Kona, three of them for professional men and three for professional women. The 2027 edition is set for 15 May and entries are already open.

The 2026 professional podiums

In the men’s race Sam Laidlow (France) won in 8:03:40: 46:25 swimming, 4:27:52 on the bike and 2:44:14 for the marathon. Patrick Lange (Germany) was second in 8:12:29 with the fastest run of the day, 2:33:43, and Jordi Montraveta Moya (Spain) third in 8:16:16.

In the women’s race Lucy Charles-Barclay (Great Britain) won in 9:15:39, with 47:02 in the water, 5:21:05 on the bike and 3:01:13 on foot. Nina Derron was second in 9:42:02 and Nikita Paskiewiez third in 9:47:36.

The full write-up is in our race report.

Planning your race

The organisers’ equipment advice is specific: nothing deeper than a 50 mm wheel profile, because the crosswind on the northern straights is unforgiving.

To watch, three places work: Playa Grande at 07:00 for the swim start, the Tabayesco climb, the Mirador del Río or the La Geria vineyards during the bike, and Avenida de las Playas from 14:00 onwards for the finishers.

And a warning if you are on the island without racing: that Saturday brings road closures on the LZ-2 between Puerto del Carmen and Arrecife, the LZ-1 between Arrecife and Costa Teguise, the LZ-10 in the north and the roads through La Geria, with restricted access to Montañas del Fuego and the Mirador del Río.