Life is an ultramarathon

I had the feeling that the Nice Ironman was much harder than the UK one. That was confirmed by some posts on the Runner's World forum.
However, looking at the facts, it's not that obvious. Surprisingly, there's more ascent on the UK one, for both the bike and the marathon. I thought the nice backcountry would be more hilly. On the other hand, the temperature in Nice will be much higher, particularly on the run, well exposed to the sun. As for the swim, the waves in Nice maybe a bit of a problem, but that should be compensated by the higher water temperature...

		UK Ironman	France Ironman
General	Location	Sherborne Castle, Dorset	Nice, Alpes-Maritimes
	Date	August 2008 ?	22nd June 2008
	Cost	?	330+10+40 = 380€
Stage
Swim 3.8km	Laps	2	2 with a land exit in between
	Start	In water mass start	6 starts sections
	Time limit	2 hours 20 min	2 hours 15 min ?
	Environment	Lancelot Brown Lake (15.5°C)	Mediterranean Sea (24°C)
Bike 180km	Laps	3	1
	Ascent	2287m	1800m
	Time limit	10 hours 30 min	10 hours 45 min
	Water points	9 ?	8
	Environment	English countryside	Southern France backcountry - may be warm
Run 42.195km	Laps	2+2 ?	4
	Ascent	773m	Totally flat
	Time limit	17 hours	16 hours
	Water points	18 ?	24
	Environment	English countryside	Seafront (Promenade des Anglais) - may be hot

Overall, the website of the Nice Ironman is much better than the UK one. I know it may not mean anything about the actual race, but it gives a bad impression...

Ultra choice to make.