Race day for this edition — 12 July 2026 — has passed. The guide stays up for reference.
Upcoming race guides →IRONMAN Vitoria-Gasteiz is a split-transition Ironman — you don't pack one bag, you pack colour-coded ones that travel for you, and your bike goes in the day before. The swim is in the Landa reservoir north of the city, the bike and run finish on Calle Olaguíbel in the old town, and here's exactly what goes in each bag.
On a split course you never return to where you started, so your kit is split across colour-coded bags that get moved for you while you race.
The swim and bike start out at Landa, on the Ullíbarri-Gamboa reservoir north of the city. The bike rides back into Vitoria-Gasteiz to a second transition on Calle Olaguíbel, where the run also finishes — you never return to the reservoir. That's why your kit is split across bags that get moved for you while you race.
IRONMAN's colour-to-bag scheme is the same across European races, so this part is settled. Pack each bag for the discipline it powers — and for a warm July day in Álava on a three-lap, rolling bike course with about 1,000 m of climbing.
Vitoria-Gasteiz runs a mandatory day-before bike check-in at Landa with the bike racked overnight — there's no race-morning bike check-in to fall back on. It runs 13:00–19:00 on Saturday, reached by athlete shuttle from the city, and your timing chip is handed to you at the separate red-bag drop on Calle Olaguíbel.
The 2026 official guide is in. The times below are now confirmed for this edition — a few moved from last year.
The choreography barely moves year to year — Transition 1 opens at 05:30 and closes at 08:10, the white streetwear bag goes in at Landa, then the rolling swim start at 08:15. Transition 2 stays shut, so you won't see your red bag again. The order is what matters.
The blue bag is your bike / T1 bag — bike shoes, sunglasses, race belt and ride nutrition, with your helmet packed inside it. It's racked with your bike at Landa the day before.
It's a split (point-to-point) transition: the swim and bike start at the Landa reservoir, then the run starts and finishes from a second transition on Calle Olaguíbel in the city. The colour-coded bags carry your kit between those points so you don't have to.
Yes — on top of the three transition bags, Vitoria-Gasteiz offers two optional personal-needs bags: orange for the bike, black for the run. You accept them at registration and drop them at Calle Olaguíbel the day before; they're then set out on course — bike personal needs around km 53, 126 and 173, run personal needs around km 4, 14, 24 and 35. You won't get them back, so don't put anything valuable in them.
Yes. Bike check-in is mandatory and day-before, racked overnight at Landa and closing at 19:00 on Saturday. There is no race-morning bike check-in, and no car access to Landa on Sunday — you take the athlete shuttle — so don't plan to bring the bike on the day.
No. Transition 2 doesn't open on race morning, so the red bag you drop on Saturday is sealed until you reach it off the bike. Only the blue bag is accessible on the morning, and just to add drinks or nutrition — everything for the run has to be right before Saturday's close.
The white bag holds the dry clothes you arrive in. You hand it in at Landa near the swim start and it's moved to the finish, so warm kit is waiting on Calle Olaguíbel when you cross the line in the old town.
This edition has raced — the structure above stays for reference. Add Vitoria-Gasteizand RackSide has a personal, deadline-aware plan ready the moment the next edition's guide is published.