Ironman Vichy 2027: date, course and training plan

226 km · swim 3.8 · bike 180 · run 42.2Vichy2027 edition: 22 August 2027

IRONMAN Vichy is the full IRONMAN distance raced in late August in the spa town, on the same day as IRONMAN 70.3 Vichy. The full distance returned there in 2026: a 3.8 km swim in the Allier, 180 km of riding through the Limagne, the Livradois-Forez and the Montagne Bourbonnaise, then a flat four-lap marathon around Lake Allier. The 2027 edition takes place on Sunday 22 August.

A demanding distance: it is wiser to have finished a shorter race of the same kind first.

Your plan for Ironman Vichy

42 weeks to go: your plan starts this week, set to your level and free days, then adapts to your feedback after each session.

Your level?

14-day trial, cancel anytime.

Ironman Vichy at a glance

Date
2027 edition: 22 August 2027
Formats
IRONMANPlan below — 3.8 km swim in one loop in the Allier, 180 km bike in one loop (2,000 m of climbing according to the 2026 athlete guide), 42.2 km run in four flat laps. 7 am start in 2026. 2026 cut-offs: swim within 2h20, km 61 of the bike by 12:30 pm, km 107 by 2:40 pm, bike finished within 10h30, km 31 of the run by 9:50 pm, finish within 16 hours. Aged 18 and over, no relays.
IRONMAN 70.3 Vichy — The half distance (1.9 / 90 / 21.1 km), on the same day, with its own page on ironman.com.
Night Run — 5 km with music along the Allier, two days before the race, at 8 pm at the Palais du Lac. 2027 entries announced as opening soon.
IRONKIDS — Children’s races the day before the race (Saturday at 4 pm in 2026).
Registration
Entries are open on ironman.com. As of 17 October 2026: €887.04 all in (€660 entry, €147.84 VAT and €79.20 fees); the price rises as places sell. Until 25 November 2026, the Flex90 offer gives a free deferral, a fee-free transfer or a partial refund. An annual FFTri licence or a Licence Expérience is required, obtained before race day. The race offers qualifying slots for the 2027 IRONMAN World Championship.

The 2026 course

Start at 7 am on the banks of Lake Allier, for one 3.8 km swim loop in the Allier; transition on the sandy car park by the lake. Bike: one 180 km loop. The first 2.5 km follow the lake, then the road crosses the Limagne plain, through the chicanes of Puy-Guillaume and Châteldon (km 35), climbs to La Guillermie (9.5 km at 3.7%, the high point of the course), descends to Ferrières-sur-Sichon and Arronnes (km 69) and runs along the Sichon to Cusset. Second half: about twenty fast kilometres via Bost and Billezois (personal needs station), Lapalisse, the hills from La Bruyère to La Croix Rouge (km 124 to 132), Châtel-Montagne and Le Mayet-de-Montagne, then back down the Sichon valley and over a last 40 m rise before the descent of the Route de Creuzier. Run: four flat laps around Lake Allier and through the parks of Vichy.

What the race asks of your training

2,000 m of climbing spread over the whole day

After the Limagne plain, the climb to La Guillermie is 9.5 km at 3.7%. But the end is more draining: rolling “roller-coaster” hills between La Bruyère (km 124) and La Croix Rouge (km 132), on a rough and barely shaded road, then the climb to Châtel-Montagne. Long rides of 5 to 6 hours should keep climbs in the second half, not only at the start.

A late-August swim, sometimes without a wetsuit

IRONMAN lists an average water temperature of 22 °C, and the athlete guide bans wetsuits above 24.6 °C. Over 3.8 km, swimming without neoprene makes a big difference: do several long swims without a wetsuit, in open water, in the middle of summer.

Bike cut-offs to keep an eye on

With a 7 am start, you must reach km 61 by 12:30 pm and km 107 by 2:40 pm. If your bike pace is tight, the swim and the first transition matter: ten minutes saved in the water gives you a margin before La Guillermie.

A build-up through high summer

For a race on 22 August, the biggest weeks fall in July, often in the heat. Do your long sessions early in the morning and keep a bike-to-run brick every week: the flat four-lap marathon is run at a steady pace, at the top of your easy endurance range.

The plan below prepares the IRONMAN format, for an athlete at intermediate level with 7 days available per week, with race day on 22 August 2027. Aiming for another format? Enter its distance when you create your plan, which will be calibrated on your level, your available days and your feedback after every session.

weeks
25
sessions
173
sessions / week
7
peak week
14.1 h

Plan structure

Periodised in phases: build the base, move to race-specific work, then taper before the race.

  1. General preparation
    Weeks 1–2 · 2 wk
  2. Base
    Weeks 3–10 · 8 wk
  3. Build
    Weeks 11–16 · 6 wk
  4. Specific
    Weeks 17–21 · 5 wk
  5. Taper
    Weeks 22–24 · 3 wk
  6. Race week
    Weeks 25–25 · 1 wk

Volume progression

Week by week: lighter recovery weeks are built in to absorb the load.

WkPhaseHourskm
1General preparation
8.8 h
30
2General preparation
9.1 h
32
3Base
9.9 h
29
4Base
10.2 h
30
5Base
10.5 h
31
6Baserecovery
8.5 h
24
7Base
10.7 h
32
8Base
11 h
33
9Base
11.3 h
34
10Baserecovery
9.1 h
26
11Build
11.7 h
35
12Build
12 h
36
13Build
12.2 h
36
14Buildrecovery
9.7 h
30
15Build
12.4 h
37
16Build
12.6 h
37
17Specific
13.3 h
39
18Specificrecovery
10.4 h
31
19Specific
13.4 h
39
20Specific
13.7 h
40
21Specific
14.1 h
41
22Taper
10.3 h
37
23Taper
8.7 h
30
24Taper
7.4 h
25
25Race week
4.1 h
8

Sample week — week 15 (Build)

Real sessions from the plan with their targets. Each session is detailed step by step, and can be sent to a Garmin or COROS watch.

  • TuesdayRunningVery hard
    3 × 1.2 km at MAS
    2 min 30 s jog recovery
    48 min · 8.8 km
  • TuesdaySwimmingEasy
    1 h 14 continuous swim
    1 h 14 · 3.4 km
  • WednesdayCyclingEasy
    30 min at endurance pace
    30 min
  • ThursdayBrickHard
    1 h 34 bike + 24 min run
    including 3 × 10 min at threshold on the bike
    2 h 06
  • FridaySwimmingHard
    9 × 300 m at threshold
    20 s recovery
    1 h 12 · 3.5 km
  • SaturdayCyclingEasy
    4 h 23 at endurance pace
    4 h 23
  • SundayRunningEasy
    Long run 2 h 11
    2 h 11 · 21.2 km

Example generated for a intermediate-level profile (MAS 15 km/h, 7 days available per week). Your plan will depend on your level, availability and feedback.

This plan’s check-up

Pass

A 25-week build (recommended minimum: 16); a longest run never more than 4% above the previous month’s; volume rising at most 8% from one week to the next; 85% of the time at easy effort; the longest session 4 weeks before the race; a taper cutting volume by 71% in race week.

4 worth knowing · 21 checks passed

Remarks

  • Lighter weeks — 5 loading weeks in a row without a lighter week (up to week 5).

  • Long run after the long ride — The long run falls the day after the long ride in 9 weeks.

  • Strength training — No strength session.

  • Fueling — Long sessions (up to 300 min in this plan) are where race fueling is rehearsed.

The 21 checks passed, in detail
  • Length of the build — 25 weeks: enough for this race (recommended minimum: 16).

  • Sessions per week — 7 sessions a week: the minimum for this race is met.

  • Volume progression — Running volume rises at most 8% from one week to the next (a signal appears beyond 20%).

  • Long run increase — Each week, the longest run is at most 4% longer than the longest of the previous month (benchmark: 10%).

  • Intensity distribution — About 85% of the time at easy effort: the most common distribution among trained endurance athletes.

  • Demanding sessions — No more than 3 demanding session(s) a week: suited to the level.

  • Hard days back to back — Demanding sessions are separated by easy days.

  • Rest days — At least one rest day a week.

  • Timing of the longest session — The longest session falls 4 weeks before the race: the right time.

  • Bike-run bricks — 9 bike-run bricks over the last 12 weeks.

  • Taper — Volume drops 71% in race week.

  • Intensity during the taper — Short race-pace efforts remain in the last two weeks.

  • Frequency during the taper — The number of sessions stays close to usual (86%).

  • Swim / bike / run balance — Swim 19%, bike 53%, run 28%: within coaches’ benchmarks.

  • Frequency per discipline — Each discipline comes back at least 2 times a week.

  • Sessions per week — 7 sessions a week: enough for a long format.

  • Open water — 5 open-water session(s) before the race.

  • Longest ride — The longest ride lasts 300 min (benchmark: 300 to 390 min).

  • Longest run — The longest run lasts 150 min (benchmark: 120 to 180 min).

  • Swim distance — The longest swim covers 92% of the race distance.

  • Long ride increase — The long ride grows in small steps.

Endu runs its own plans through the plan check open to everyone: same public rules, same thresholds, same sources. The rules and their sources, and a check of your own plan.

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The full week-by-week table and the sample week, in your inbox. No account needed.

Why this plan works

Science-based periodisation

Base → build → specific → taper, with a recovery week every 3 to 4 weeks. Load goes up, but never two hard weeks in a row without a breather.

Paces, not vague feelings

Every session has target zones (pace, HR) computed from your MAS or a reference performance. A MAS test is built into the plan if you don't know yours.

Three disciplines, one load

Swim, bike and run are planned together: brick sessions, key sessions spread out, and a coherent total load week after week.

A plan that listens

After each session you rate how it felt (RPE). Too hard? The plan eases what follows. Skipped a session? It reschedules or absorbs it.

On your watch

On Garmin with the Endu app, on COROS by direct sync: the guided workout shows up on your wrist, step by step.

Reviews

What our users say.

4.8/5

  • “For triathlon, having all three sports in the same schedule really makes my life easier. I spend less time organising my training and I still enjoy following it just as much.”

    Maxime · Triathlon

  • “At first I just wanted to try it. Now checking the next day’s session has become my little evening ritual 😊”

    Sarah · Triathlon

  • “I used to spend more time looking for a plan than following one. Now I have my sessions, I know what to do and I stick to it. Really glad I tried it.”

    Thomas · Running

  • “Training for my first half marathon and honestly, I’m getting into it! I even look at my next sessions ahead of time, when before I was mostly looking for an excuse not to go out 😂”

    Camille · Running

  • “Simple to follow and really handy with the watch. I start my session and off I go.”

    Julien · Running

  • “I took Endu to prepare a trail race with friends. I really like having my week already organised: it motivates me and I enjoy my runs more.”

    Émilie · Trail

  • “What I like is no longer asking myself a thousand questions before going for a run. I follow the plan and I enjoy training.”

    Nicolas · Trail

  • “With work and the kids, I thought I’d struggle to follow a plan. In the end, having a structure helps me a lot. Running has found a real place in my week again, and it feels good!”

    Julie · Trail

  • “A good find to prepare my swimrun! It’s nice to find a plan for this sport. I’ve recommended it to my teammate.”

    Antoine · Swimrun

  • “I run more regularly and, above all, with more desire. For that alone, I’m delighted.”

    Laura · Swimrun

Your plan, not a template athlete's

This plan is generated for an athlete at intermediate level with 7 days available per week. Yours will be calibrated on your MAS, your available days and your feedback after every session. 3 minutes. 14-day trial, cancel anytime.

Create my plan for Ironman Vichy

14-day trial, cancel anytime.

Frequently asked questions

When is IRONMAN Vichy 2027?
On Sunday 22 August 2027, according to ironman.com, the same day as IRONMAN 70.3 Vichy. The 2026 edition was held on 23 August, with a 7 am start.
How much is the entry?
€887.04 all in as of 17 October 2026. The price rises as places are sold, and there are no relays on the full distance.
How much climbing is on the bike?
About 2,000 m of climbing over 180 km according to the 2026 athlete guide, with La Guillermie (9.5 km at 3.7%), hills between Lapalisse and Châtel-Montagne and a last 40 m rise before Vichy.
What are the cut-offs?
In 2026: 2h20 for the swim, km 61 by 12:30 pm, km 107 by 2:40 pm, bike finished within 10h30, km 31 of the run by 9:50 pm and finish within 16 hours.
Ironman Vichy: how many weeks of preparation?
For an athlete at intermediate level, Endu builds a 25-week preparation. If your race is closer, the plan compresses phases while keeping the taper; if it's further away, it lengthens the preparation, and when the gap is large the preparation starts right away, gently and at your current volume, before building up.
Is this plan well built?
Pass at Endu’s plan check, the same as for any plan: 21 of 21 checks passed. A 25-week build (recommended minimum: 16); a longest run never more than 4% above the previous month’s; volume rising at most 8% from one week to the next; 85% of the time at easy effort; the longest session 4 weeks before the race; a taper cutting volume by 71% in race week. The rules and their sources are public on endu.fr/en/controle-technique.
How many sessions per week?
This example has 7 sessions per week. You choose 6 to 7 training days and the exact days (e.g. Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun): the plan sticks to them.
I'm a beginner, is this plan for me?
Not as a first long race: if you declare a beginner level, Endu flags it. Aim for a shorter race of the same kind first; Endu builds that preparation too.
Can I follow sessions on my watch?
Yes, on Garmin and COROS. On Garmin, the Endu app (Connect IQ Store) shows today’s session and starts it as a guided workout. On COROS, link your account from your profile: your running, trail and cycling sessions land in the watch calendar. Other brands are not supported yet.
How much does it cost?
14-day free trial, then €7.99/month with no commitment or €59.88/year (€4.99/month). Unlimited objectives and sports.

Checked on 17 October 2026 on the organiser's websites. Details can change: the official website prevails.

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