Expansion Continues As Ironman Group Acquires Haute Route

The IRONMAN Group has continued its expansion plans by acquiring multi-day amateur cycling events organiser Haute Route and the Gravel Epic, a new gravel race series.

Besides its triathlon events, The Ironman Group already owns a variety of marathons, road cycling, trail running and mountain biking including the Absa Cape Epic mountain bike stage race.

The Haute Route acquisition adds eight new cycling events to Ironman’s portfolio and cements its position as the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world.

As part of the acquisition, the Haute Route Group’s CEO, Julie Royer, will join the leadership team at The Ironman Group as Senior Director of Road Cycling.

President and chief executive of the Ironman Group, Andrew Messick, said these two premium cycling brands further enhance its events ecosystem.

“We will reach new athletes in new geographies as we look to serve cycling enthusiasts with racing experiences that are challenging and fun with a full support network so they can focus on having their best race possible,” he said.

“We look forward to the continued leadership Julie will bring to ensure exceptional road cycling and gravel racing experiences in iconic locations where amateur cyclists feel like professionals.”

The news comes after Ironman, which is owned by US-based media and entertainment group Advance, partnered with the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc Group (UTMB) earlier this year to launch a new global, multilevel circuit of trail running events.