WTC Signs New Sports Drink Agreement For Ironman Brands

The World Triathlon Corporation announced today that it will no longer be serving Gatorade as the official sports drink of Ironman. Through the agreement, WTC and Powerbar will partner to introduce a new Ironman Perform ready-to-drink sports beverage in June 2010.

See the complete press release from WTC below:

Nestlé Performance Nutrition and its PowerBar brand, and the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), owner of the Ironman and Iron Girl brands, today announced an exclusive product sponsorship and licensing partnership to develop a line of premium Ironman-branded sports drinks. The deal is an extension of PowerBar’s longstanding global partnership with Ironman and its role as the official global energy bar and energy gel supplier of all Ironman and 70.3 events.

Through the agreement, the companies will introduce new Ironman Perform ready-to-drink sports beverage in June 2010. New Ironman Perform sports drink features PowerBar’s state-of-the-art C2max carbohydrate blend, found to deliver 20 to 50 percent more energy to muscles and improve endurance performance by 8 percent.

“We have a fundamental goal and shared mission with Ironman, which is to help athletes perform at their best,” said Phil Annett, Global Business Head at Nestlé Performance Nutrition. “Applying the latest sports science to get the right balance of performance benefits, taste and stomach comfort in the new Ironman Perform sports drink was a long yet essential development process designed to help athletes achieve optimum performance.”

C2max, the unique, high-octane carbohydrate formulation found in new Ironman Perform sports drink, was developed based on groundbreaking research published in the February 2008 issue of Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. The study showed that consuming an optimized blend of glucose and fructose carbohydrates allowed athletes to perform better, increase fluid delivery and experience less perceived exertion following exercise.2 PowerBar, through the Nestlé Research Center, continues to support a series of follow-up carbohydrate performance field trials with lead research author Dr. Asker Jeukendrup and his team at the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham. The aim of these trials is to apply this breakthrough science to the development of new sports nutrition tools, such as new Ironman Perform sports drink, for endurance athletes.

President and CEO of Ironman, Ben Fertic commented, “Ironman is the pinnacle of endurance sports and we believe in having the latest tools available for our athletes. As Ironman celebrates its 32nd anniversary, we are excited to offer the world’s top athletes a new product that is designed to enhance their training and race day experience.”

Designed for athletes who take part in intense workouts or who exercise in the heat or humidity and experience significant fluid and electrolyte loss, new Ironman Perform sports drink also enhances performance by delivering essential electrolytes, including 190 mg of sodium per serving, to replenish what athletes lose in sweat and to help avoid skeletal muscle cramps and dehydration. The convenient ready-to-drink beverage is also made with natural flavors and without the use of high fructose corn syrup.

Through the new agreement, Ironman Perform will be the official sports drink for the following events in 2010: Amica Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island, Ironman 70.3 Racine, Rohto Ironman 70.3 Miami, Ford Ironman Lake Placid, Ford Ironman Louisville, Ford Ironman Wisconsin, Ford Ironman Florida and Ford Ironman Arizona. Additionally, both the 2010 Ford Ironman World Championship and Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3 events will include Ironman Perform on-course, and the product will be on course at upcoming Aflac Iron Girl events throughout the 2010 season.

“I have been testing out the new Ironman Perform sports drink in training and it has a light taste and was easy on my stomach,” said Samantha McGlone, Ironman Champion. Ironman Perform is the most convenient way to meet all my hydration and nutrition needs during hard racing and training. It will be key for me to now have its performance-enhancing formula on course when it counts this season.”

PowerBar’s heritage with the sport of triathlon traces back to the company’s beginning, and triathletes worldwide have come to rely on PowerBar’s sports nutrition products for top-level training and competition. Through the company’s Team Elite™ ambassador program, Ironman and 70.3 athletes have contributed to PowerBar’s product development programs for elite athletes, and this new sponsorship and licensing agreement is a natural extension of the long-standing relationship.

New Ironman Perform ready-to-drink sports beverage will be available on June 8, 2010 in three flavors—Lemon Lime, Orange Mango and Mixed Berry—via powerbar.com, shopironman.com for a suggested retail price of $1.49 per 20-fluid-ounce bottle.