The Fastest Pro Bikes at the Women's IMWC in Nice

Published September 25, 2024 06:03AM

The first year for the women at the Ironman World Championships in Nice, France, was nothing short of amazing. The spotlight was once again directed at the greatest female triathletes in the world with a challenging and technical bike course.

With no age-group men to interfere with the race tactics and the media solely focused on the women’s race, Nice was an opportunity to showcase the true cycling ability of these ladies. This course left nothing to chance, and if you didn’t have a top-10 bike split, you didn’t have a chance of winning the race. The top five fastest cyclists all finished in the top five of the race, showing how essential the bike has become in Ironman racing.

The Fastest Bikes at the 2023 Ironman World Championships: Pro Women

#1 Laura Philipp (DEU)

Laura Philipp was knocking on the door at the world champs last year in Kona with her first podium finish. This year, she took command of the race on the bike in Nice and never looked back. Her 5:02:25 split was over three minutes faster than the next competitor. After her race-best bike split, Philipp used a blazing race-best 2:44:59 marathon to cruise to victory. While her swim was off front pack pace, posting the fastest bike and run of the day proved to be too much for her competition. Philipp’s Canyon Speedmax CFR featured a Swiss Side Hadron 800 front wheel paired with a Swiss Side Hadron Disc in the rear. She used a Shimano Dura Ace Di2 12 speed 2x drivetrain with an SRM Power 9 Carbon crankset and Carbon-Ti 56/44 chainrings (the largest we saw in Nice).

#2 Kat Matthews (GBR)

Kat Matthews has been very consistent, showing top bike strength on every course she races on. Matthews used a similar Canyon Speedmax CFR as the overall winner, Laura Philipp, but without the fully custom, one-off cockpit. Matthews paired her Speedmax with DT Swiss wheels, choosing the Dicut 60 for her front and Arc disc for her rear. There was a massive trend with nearly every lady posting a top-10 bike split choosing to ride a rear disc. Kat also used a Shimano Dura Ace Di2 12-speed groupset with the same 56/44 Carbon-Ti chainrings as Philipp.

#3 Marjolaine Pierré (FRA)

In what was essentially a home race for Pierré, she showed up to impress on the bike posting the third fastest split of the day. Familiarity with the course certainly proved beneficial on the technical sections, though she confessed to Triathlete in a post-race interview that she can be timid on the fast descents. Pierré piloted her Cervelo P5 equipped with SRAM Red eTap AXS 12-speed 2x groupset. She used DT Swiss Dicut 60 for her front wheel and paired it with a DT Swiss Dicut Arc disc wheel in the rear.

#4 Chelsea Sodaro (USA)

2022 Ironman world champion Chelsea Sodaro proved she is more than just a super runner, by posting the fourth fastest bike split on this crazy hilly and technical course. Chelsea rode a new bike, a Pinarello Bolide TR equipped with DT Swiss Dicut 60 front rear and DT Swiss Arc rear disc wheel. She chose a Shimano Dura Ace Di2 12-speed 2x system for her groupset.

#5 Nikki Bartlett (GBR)

Nikki Bartlett is no stranger to fast bike splits, and her 5:17:42 was fifth best on the day allowing her to finish the race in fifth place overall, proving you have to bike and run at the very top if you want to find success at the world championships. Nikki rode a Cervelo P5 with Rolf Prima ARES wheels (6 ES front and TT Disc rear) and a Shimano Dura Ace Di2 12-speed 2x drivetrain with a Rotor crankset. Nikki chose to race a 2x in Nice but has been known to race a 1x on other courses.

#6 Marta Sanchez (ESP)

Marta is known as one of the fastest swimmers on the circuit, having cut her teeth in WTS draft-legal racing. The Ironman South Africa champion is now officially known as a super biker as well, but she lacks any official bike sponsorship for frame or drivetrain. Marta’s 5:18:00 helped her to a 15th-place finish. She rode a Cervelo P5 with a Shimano Ultegra and 105 Di2 12-speed 2x drivetrain and a Speedsix Ultralight 40mm deep front wheel paired with a HED Vanquish rear disc wheel.

#7 Penny Slater (AUS)

Penny Slater’s Trek Speed Concept was equipped with a SRAM RED eTap AXS 2x 12-speed power meter drivetrain and DT Swiss wheels (Dicut 60 front and Dicut Arc rear disc).

#8 Lotte Wilms (NED)

As a member of the Pewag racing team, Lotte rode her team-issued Storck Zeitjaeger to the eighth-fastest bike split of the day. Lotte chose not to run a disc wheel for the race, instead opting for front and rear Xentis Mark4 5-spoke aero wheels. She used a Shimano Dura Ace Di2 12-speed 2x drivetrain.

#9 Merle Bruneé (DEU)

While the race was missing reigning Ironman world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay and her unpainted, custom-carbon lay up Cube Aerium, Merle was on the course proving the worth of the Cube aerodynamics. Merle paired her Cube Aerium with Citec 8000 wheels (CX 83 Ultra front and disc rear) and a Shimano Dura Ace Di2 12-speed 2x drivetrain with Rotor cranks.

#10 Daniela Bleymehl (GER)

Last year in both the men’s and women’s world championship the athlete with the 10th fastest bike split used a race-best run split to finish second overall. Unfortunately for Daniela, she was only able to finish 28th overall, but her bike split and race were both super impressive. Daniela paired her Scott Plasma RC Pro with the super aero Princeton Carbon Works Mach 7580 TSV2 tri-spoke front wheel and the same branded Blur 633 V3 rear disc. Daniela also chose to use a Shimano Dura Ace Di2 12-speed 2x drivetrain but opted for the SRM 9 Carbon Crankset.