Christian Wenande
August 18th, 2015

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Some 55 nationalities will take part in this year’s edition (photo: KMD Ironman – Getty Images)

On Sunday, close to 200,000 spectators will pour onto the streets of the Danish capital to cheer on the over 3,000 triathletes taking part in the 2015 KDM Ironman Copenhagen.

More athletes than ever before are taking part in this year’s race and over half of them are coming from abroad, according to KDM Ironman Copenhagen.

“We have a clear ambition to create the best and most visited Ironman event in the world,” said Thomas Veje Olsen, the head of Ironman Denmark.

“The fact we can attract participants from 55 nations in the world to Denmark and Copenhagen is testament to how far we have come to achieve our goal. And this year, foreign participants will make up over half of the total number of participants.”

With participants throwing themselves into a gruelling race that consists of 3.8 km of ocean swimming, 180 km of cycling and 42.2 km of running, the competition is the only Ironman that takes place in the heart of a capital city.

READ MORE: Cerebral palsy athlete makes ironman history

Traffic chaos
While just under half of the contestants are Danes, the most overseas competitors come from the UK with 225, followed by Sweden (216) and Germany (131). Among the other represented countries are Ireland (49), Russia (19), Japan (17) New Zealand (13), Brazil (12), the USA (10), Australia (7) and even one person from the little Caribbean island of Saint Nevis and Kitts.

But the race, which will take place in the city and parts of north Zealand, will result in significant traffic disruption as roads in Copenhagen and to the north are closed off to cars.

Roads for motorists to avoid include the coastal road Strandvejen from Hellerup as far north as Humlebæk, which will be open just one way heading into town. See the entire route map here.