Marjolaine Pierré and Nicolò Bortolamedi claimed victory at Ironman 70.3 Aix-en-Provence on Sunday 17 May — the fifth stop on the 2026 Experience Oman Ironman Pro Series and its first European round. Pierré shattered her own course record by nearly four minutes, crossing the line in 4:08:27. Bortolamedi did the same in the men’s race, clocking 3:38:54 to beat Kristian Blummenfelt’s 2025 mark of 3:41:08. Both records carry an asterisk worth noting: disc wheels were permitted on the technical Mont Sainte-Victoire bike course for the first time at this event.
Women’s Race — Pierré Controls From the Bike
Pierré emerged from the 1.9 km swim in Lac des Peyrolles in eighth place, 31 seconds behind leader Fenella Langridge — who equalled her own swim course record (set in 2018) with a 24:24. Laura Philipp was 1:53 back in 15th. It was her first start of 2026, coming after a hospital admission with severe stomach and back pain in the final days of her race prep.
The 90 km bike leg changed everything. With 1,077 m of elevation and a punchy final climb around the 67 km mark dominating the back half, Pierré moved steadily through the field. She seized the lead at 48 km and extended it to 1:38 over Eline De Vet by T2. Solène Billouin (FRA) sat third at +3:46. Imogen Simmonds had slipped to fourth at +4:12 after losing time in a skid on a descent, with Philipp fifth at +4:36.
On the three-loop run through Aix-en-Provence and around La Rotonde fountain, the gaps only widened. Simmonds ran through De Vet to take second, finishing 3:42 behind Pierré. Philipp held on for third at +4:18 — a significant result given where she was 10 days ago. Pierré’s half marathon split came in at 1:19.
“I am very happy to be back in Aix, it’s always a particular atmosphere and such a support from all the French spectators and the whole French Ironman team.” — Marjolaine Pierré
Simmonds, a former winner here in 2021, will have mixed feelings. The podium is solid, but a bike crash cost her any realistic shot at Pierré. Philipp’s return to racing precedes a planned start at Ironman Hamburg, where she came agonisingly close to setting a world record last year in a battle with Kat Matthews.
Men’s Race — Bortolamedi Kicks Clear of Bogen
Jamie Riddle (RSA) set the tone early, leading out of the water in a course-record 21:48. Bortolamedi bided his time. He accelerated hard on the final climb of the bike leg, arriving at T2 with a 13-second lead over Maximilian Sperl and Rico Bogen — who carried bib number one in the absence of defending champion Blummenfelt.
The lead stretched to 31 seconds after the first run lap. Then Bogen — the 2023 Ironman 70.3 World Champion — closed hard on the second loop and overtook Bortolamedi on a downhill section. The Italian responded immediately. With around 3 km to go, he opened up a decisive gap and didn’t look back, winning by 32 seconds.
“When I started the third lap, I told myself ‘oggi vinco’ — today I win. Today I was strong, my legs were perfect, the brain always clear. The second lap I saw Rico come in strong, but I didn’t have any fear, I wasn’t scared.” — Nicolò Bortolamedi
Bortolamedi, 24, is ranked 42nd in the PTO World Rankings. Sunday was only his second Ironman 70.3 pro victory, following Ironman 70.3 Hradec Králové last year. Lasse Priester (GER) rounded out the podium — running a course-record 1:07:05 half marathon to come through from sixth off the bike, a performance that cements the form he showed with a runner-up finish at Ironman 70.3 Valencia.
Series Standings and What’s Next
The $50,000 prize purse was split across the pro fields, with Sunday’s results feeding into the $1.7 million USD season-ending bonus pool. The Pro Series spans 16 events in total — six full-distance Ironmans, eight Ironman 70.3s, and the two World Championships — with athletes’ best five scores counting. Three World Championship qualifying slots per gender for the 2026 Precision Fuel & Hydration Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice were also on offer in Aix.
The series continues with its next European stop ahead of the season’s major championship targets. On home soil, Pierré will be difficult to dislodge as the circuit moves deeper into the European summer.
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