Lyon welcoming TriStar in 2011

Written by André Karsai | 07 January 2011

TriStar111 will take place on 10 July 2011 in Lyon, France. A TriStar55.5 race will be held the same day.

The second-largest French city will host the first TriStar races in the country. TriStar111 and TriStar55.5 will take place on 10 July 2011 in Lyon. The race will feature a swim in the Saône, a selective cycling route in the Monts d’Or and running through the historical city centre.

Lyon will be the host town for the first TriStar races in France. On 10 July 2011, the popular triathlon format will come to the Grande Nation offering two races: TriStar111 and TriStar55.5 will both be held on the same circuit, with one loop for each discipline in the TriStar55.5 race, and two loops for the TriStar111 Lyon.

“Lyon has everything a destination needs in order to grow to one of Europe’s most popular triathlon races within a short period of time,” says Michel Sorine, managing partner at Extra-Sports, the agency that secured the organising rights for TriStar in Lyon.

Both races will feature a swim in the Saône river, followed by cycling though the Monts d’Or – the green lung just a stone’s throw away from the city centre featuring climbs to the Mont Verdun, the Mont Thou, and the Mont Cindre with almost 1000m of climbing altitude for each lap, and running along the quays of the Saône River in Lyon’s historical centre.

“We’re excited to host a TriStar race in France, one of Europe’s most important triathlon Nations. Lyon’s population is fond of outdoor-sports, there are many triathlon and cycling clubs in the Rhône-Alpes region, and we’re looking forward to offer the unique TriStar format in Lyon starting in 2011,” declares Georg Hochegger, CEO and founder of Star Production SARL.

Lyon is the second most important metropolitan area in France after that of Paris and situated in east-central France. Lyon is the capital of the Rhône-Alpes region. The city is known for its historical and architectural landmarks, is a Unesco World Heritage Site, and has developed a reputation as the capital of gastronomy in France.

Extra-Sports is an event management agency in Lyon organizing some of the region’s most important sports events, like the SaintéLyon and the Lyon Free VTT mountainbike race.

The TriStar label is owned by Star Production SARL, a Monaco based company specialized in organising high quality sports events that are focused on fun, social responsibility and environmental protection. The TriStar Series has introduced new distances to the sport of triathlon (A/N: 111km and 222km). More Info: star-events.cc.

Photo free to use: Crossing the bridge on the Run