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If you’re looking for the best triathlon training destinations, it’s best to follow the pros. After all, it’s literally a pro triathlete’s job to travel the world, swim-bike-run style – and along the way, they’ve found some pretty sweet training spots. These tri-friendly destinations allow athletes to maximize their training, eliminate distractions, and fully immerse themselves in their surroundings.
Of course, triathletes can train just about anywhere – even indoors. But as the pros know, the right training environment can provide a crucial advantage on race day, whether it’s through the physiological adaptations of altitude or exposure to race-specific conditions. That’s why pros return to these prime triathlon training spots time and again – and why age-groupers are following in their footsteps for train-cations.
Where do pro triathletes train?
Section dividerSt. Moritz, Switzerland
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According to Ironman world champions Daniela Ryf and Laura Philipp, this is the place to train. Surrounded by the stunning Swiss Alps, St. Moritz is the official Olympic high-altitude training base of Switzerland and is equipped with every triathlete’s needs (and wants), including a gorgeous pool with a view, a stunning track, and cable cars to running trails. It’s no wonder other pros, including current T100 superstar Daniel Baekkegard, are flocking to St. Moritz.
Section dividerNoosa, Australia
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Southeast Queensland, Australia, plays host to a popular triathlon training destination and home to the infamous Noosa Triathlon. It’s also the home base for John Rodgers, the legendary 86-year-old Olympic swim coach who has turned out some of the best swimmers in the sport. His roster includes Braden Currie and Hannah Berry; Jan Frodeno also frequented Noosa for training with Rodgers, saying “he manages to make me go the extra mile (literally too).”
Beyond this swim squad, the area just north of the Sunshine Coast boasts a consistently warm climate, pristine beaches, and turquoise waters, while similarly featuring scenic running trails and bike paths.
Section dividerFont-Romeu, France
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Font-Remeu, one of the oldest ski resorts in the Pyrenees, is nestled at about 6,000 feet and houses the French National Altitude Training Center. This location has become one of the most popular destinations in the world to train, and was especially a hot spot in the lead-up to the Paris Games. The area caters to every type of triathlete, with mountainous trails, open-water swimming lakes, a beautiful track, and endless cycling routes – while also being noticeably cheaper than the likes of St. Moritz.
Richard Murray was one of the many pros enjoying the French mountain air this year as Asics, his shoe sponsor, recently launched their “Chojo Camp Europe” here to support their elite athletes. Similarly, Ruth Astle and India Lee also chose this location to prepare for the first-ever women’s Ironman world championships in Nice.
Section dividerAndorra
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Not far from Font-Romeu lies the tiny country of Andorra, home to an ever-growing list of triathletes including Jan Frodeno, Hayden Wilde, Max Neumann, and Cameron Wurf. Andorra has quickly established itself as a significant hub in Europe for endurance athletes looking to tackle the region’s steep climbs and descents. The varied roads and terrain have attracted teams like the Ineos Grenadiers (Wurf’s side hustle) and the Human Powered Health women’s cycling team in preparation for this year’s Tour de France Femmes.
Boulder, Colorado
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There’s a reason they call Boulder a “Triathlon Mecca.” This mountain town has churned out champions decade after decade, from past legends like Mark Allen to current forces like Taylor Knibb. More and more triathletes continue to move to Boulder and find form, including Chelsea Sodaro, who returned to the Ironman world championship podium this year with a third-place finish in Nice, and Ironman Lake Placid winner Trevor Foley.
Situated in the foothills of the Rockies, Boulder offers an endless playground with unbeatable cycling and running routes to peaks as high as 14,000 feet, outdoor swimming pools, and reservoirs for open-water swimming. Top that off with a triathlete’s other favorite necessity – lots of delicious food options – and a short drive to Denver International Airport, and it’s easy to see why so many triathletes choose Boulder to live and train.
Section dividerTucson, Arizona
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Sam Long (originally from Boulder) and Lionel Sanders have recently brought attention to Tucson as a year-round training hotspot – not just a warm-weather winter training camp destination.
Despite the numerous 100-degree F days in Arizona, you won’t always find yourself stuck indoors. The Oro Valley Aquatic Center offers fantastic outdoor swimming year-round with a 50-meter pool, while the cycling routes here provide a welcome variety that many warmer southern states lack – namely, the stunning 9,000-foot Mt. Lemmon, which looms over the city and offers a challenging climb that’s ripe for Strava KOM throwdowns.
Section dividerBend, Oregon
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Located in the stunning Pacific Northwest of the U.S. you’ll find a mid-altitude training destination at 3,600 feet – but if you want more elevation, you’ll find it in the endless Cascade Mountains close by. You probably know Bend from That Triathlon Life pro powercouple Eric Lagerstrom and Paula Findlay, who showcase the area as if they were paid by the city itself. They dive into every kind of adventure activity Bend has to offer to complete their triathlon training, from mountain, gravel, and road cycling to skiing, trail running, and hiking – and it doesn’t take much to buy into their belief that Bend is the ultimate destination for year-round adventures.
Lanzarote, Spain
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If you could ask AI to describe the perfect triathlon training camp, you could probably expect the answer to resemble Club La Santa in Lanzarote. This destination is more often than not the training base of 2023 world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay who chooses to master her craft here alongside countless other European triathletes.
Lanzarote is one of the Canary Islands, located off the northwest coast of Africa, and is known for its unique volcanic landscape and dramatic scenery with black and red lava fields, craters, and stunning cliffs. While it might look like an ideal camp on the outside, Lanzarote can be quite a tough training environment, with high temperatures and strong winds – in other words, the perfect place to prep for the Ironman world championship Kona course. But you don’t have to travel far for a good race – Lanzarote also often boasts the title of the toughest Ironman-branded race in the world.
Section dividerYuxi, China
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Julie Derron didn’t choose any of the previously mentioned “dream” destinations on her journey to Olympic silver but instead followed coach Brett Sutton to the mountainous region of southern China. Sutton, who became the head coach of the Chinese national triathlon team in 2022, was training his squad there in early 2024 when Julie decided to join him. The recent Ibiza T100 runner-up clearly benefited from her over three-month stint in Yuxi, noting in her blog that the scale of facilities was significantly different from what she was used to – there were six running tracks, and the pool offered both 25- and 50-meter options with ten lanes each.
Section dividerWindhoek, Namibia
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In 2024, Namibia was the early-season training destination of choice for South African pro Richard Murray as well as many athletes of the Swiss, German, and Dutch national teams. Current T100 young superstars Mika Noodt and Rico Bogen have been spotted training there, and for good reason – Windhoek and the surrounding area lay claim to many of the benefits of top training destinations, like altitude, cycling variety, and running trails, in an unparalleled scenic environment – all at a price point well below what one would find in Europe or the United States.
Section dividerFlagstaff, Arizona
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If you ever want to see more of any of the above training destinations in detail, follow the social media accounts of Norwegian powerhouse duo of Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden, who have trained at most of them in their nomadic quest for peak human performance. From the insane heights of Sierra Nevada in Spain and the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, to inside their home lab in Bergen, Norway – there is nowhere they won’t go to prepare for the next race.
So where did they choose to prepare for this year’s Ironman world championships in Kona after all of their previous scouting? Flagstaff, Arizona. Sitting a little higher than many of the other locations at 7,000 feet, and within a one-way trip of the big island, this quiet, four-season, forested paradise is where they have put all their eggs to produce the fitness they need to take what would be their sixth Ironman world championship crown between them.
They’re not alone – Flagstaff has long been home to top Olympic and Paralympic athletes, who can be spotted training on the endless mountain trails, cycling along the wide bike lanes of Lake Mary Road, or swimming at the Northern Arizona University pool.