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Naeth takes on Carfrae in Ironman’s first virtual reality pro race

Angela Naeth will take on former Kona champ Mirinda Carfrae in Ironman's virtual racing debut on Saturday.

Canada’s Angela Naeth will be one of the four pro women competing in Ironman’s first virtual reality race on the weekend.

Angela Naeth on the bike at Ironman 70.3 Gulf Coast. Photo: @higgybabyphotography

Naeth will take on three-time Ironman world champion Mirinda Carfrae, South Africa’s Jeanni Seymour and American Jocelyn McCauley.

Ironman announced its new Virtual Club on April 1. It also announced its first virtual race, Ironman VR1, which will be free for all who have registered for the club. The initial race includes a 5 km run, a 90 km bike and a 21 km run. The pro component of the event will see four pro women race on Saturday, with four pro men competing on Sunday.

Like everyone else, the pros will complete the run events on their own sometime during the competition window of Friday to Sunday night (a total of 54 hours), but they will compete against each other for the bike portion of the race using the Rouvy platform to compete on the Ironman 70.3 Boulder course.

The pro race will be shown as part of Ironman’s Facebook Watch coverage, with Dede Griesbauer and Matt Lieto providing commentary. The events will start at 11 AM EST (9 AM MST and 8 AM PST).