The rivalry continues. On Friday morning in China, Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde will embark on another epic battle over the Olympic distance. Two laps of a swim with a beach start, eight laps on a hard and hilly bike course and a 4-lap, 10km run are on the menu for the first ever edition of WTCS Weihai as China’s “garden city by the sea”, makes its debut on the World Triathlon Championship Series with a bang.

After four years on the World Cup circuit, Weihai steps up to host a World Triathlon Championship Series event for the first time and, as the last race ahead of the Series Final in Torremolinos-Andalucia, it is shaping up to be a pivotal moment in the hunt for the 2024 world title.

And the stage could hardly be better. This will be one for the ages. The athletes wanted a hard, hilly and honest course and Weihai will duly provide for the 42 men lining up on the edge of Halfmoon Bay this Friday at 8:30am local time, watch on TriathlonLive.tv.

New course, new challenge

A beach start will set the tone, a two-lap, non-wetsuit swim on the cards, including an Aussie exit for the second lap that will shake up the field.

But the bike is the segment that everyone is talking about it. Eight laps, 5km each, with a big climb on each lap that will make it a very long day at the office for those who don’t have the legs for the challenge. Over 80m of elevation on each lap for a total of almost 700m of positive gain, and eight fast and furious downhills before getting into their shoes for a flat final 10km run.

All eyes will be set on another epic battle between the two biggest stars of the sport today: Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde. Their Paris 2024 Olympic showdown was one of the greatest the sport has ever seen. The champion at its conclusion, Yee has beaten Wilde in each Olympic distance WTCS race they have shared so far this year, but the Kiwi might just have the odds on his favour this time, with a course that seems to be designed for his superb bike skills.

Both Yee and Wilde have the targets set on the Torremolinos-Andalucia Championship Finals in just one month. A medal of any colour in Weihai will leave Yee top of the rankings heading in to the Finals, gold for Wilde and fourth for Yee would see the New Zealander top.

Tri kingpins Yee and Wilde chase world title

But Weihai will not only be a race between the leading duo. The top six men in the current WTCS rankings will be lining up this Friday. Present, and wearing number one as the Series leader, will be Australia’s Matthew Hauser. A silver medal in Yokohama and win in Hamburg have set the Aussie star up for a tilt at a maiden world title, but he will need to be at his very best in Weihai if he is to defend his position heading into the WTCS Final. The swim may well play in his favour, but it will not be easy to maintain any potential gap he will gain on a hard bike course like this.

Hauser will need to keep an eye on a French trio also hungry to take Weihai by storm: Paris 2024 bronze medallist Leo Bergere, double World champion Vincent Luis and Pierre Le Corre. All three are excellent swimmers, but also aggressive and powerful bikers. All are in the chase for what would be the third consecutive World Championship victory for a French athlete.

As of today, Le Corre lurks dangerously in 2nd place overall of the WTCS rankings and could cap an illustrious career with a world title of his own. Bergere sits in fifth place, but a medal here would move him closer to the overall podium. It is a similar situation with Luis, who wants to perform well on his penultimate race on the blue carpet before his swansong in Torremoinos.

Opportunity knocks for reduced post-Olympic field

Also hugely demanding will be the 10km run, including several ramps that will be sure to hurt the legs. Fast runners like Jonas Schomburg (GER), Alberto Gonzalez Garcia (ESP), Max Stapley (GBR) and Miguel Hidalgo (BRA) will be all in on the hunt for a first ever WTCS podium, knowing that there’s a large number of Series debutants in Weihai.

In fact, only 14 Paris Olympians will hit the men’s start line this Friday, with the WTCS field starting a period of renewal and evolution as the latest Olympic chapter comes to a close.

Among the new faces to be starting, John Reed (USA) will be making his second ever Series appearance after making his debut in Hamburg in July. Reed comes into Weihai having struck gold at the notoriously challenging Karlovy Vary World Cup and will fancy his chances of ruffling some feathers among the world title contenders.

Full start list available here.

The women’s field for the first-ever edition of the World Triathlon Championship Series Weihai might be a reduced one, but it is one filled with talent. No fewer than five Olympic medallists from Rio, Tokyo and Paris will be towing the start line this Friday, ready for an epic battle on the hills around Halfmoon Bay. Lisa Tertsch (GER), Beth Potter (GBR) and Laura Lindemann (GER) will all be looking for a first WTCS win this season, and hoping to catch up some points on the current Series leader, Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) as top-tier racing returns to China for the first time since 2011.

With the current top two in the rankings, Beaugrand and teammate Emma Lombardi, absent this weekend, Beth Potter and Lisa Tertsch arrive in Weihai as the highest ranked women.

A medal of any colour for either will take them past Lombardi in the standings, however Beaugrand’s three wins already in 2024 mean that she will remain the WTCS rankings leader after this weekend heading to the women’s Championship Final on 19 October. If either Potter or Tertsch hope to win the world title this year, though, it will be imperative to eat into as much of Beaugrand’s lead as possible, so anything less than gold will increase the French athlete’s chances of ultimate glory.

Tertsch fresh from Valencia victory

Tertsch will be wearing the number 1 this weekend, and Germany’s Mixed Relay Olympic champion arrives in China in excellent form after the Olympics, including three weeks of solid preparations for the last part of the season. A strong athlete over the three disciplines, the German knows that the tough Weihai course should suit her well, and is hoping to show the same running form as she did at the Valencia World Cup two weeks ago and get some valuable points that will push her up the rankings.

Tertsch has in fact outrun Beth Potter in two World Triathlon Championship Series this season, Cagliari and Hamburg, and is confident that she can do it again in Weihai. Potter has based the preparations for her return on the blue carpet on the hills around Leeds to get ready for the eight laps, and eight hills, of this new bike course.

The Brit will be leading an extremely strong GB squad, with Georgia Taylor-Brown and Kate Waugh also lining up on Halfmoon Bay this Friday, all three with a great opportunity to boost their Series rankings ahead of next month’s Championship Finals Torremolinos.

GTB back on song

Taylor-Brown is currently only ranked 11th overall after 6th place finishes in Cagliari and Paris, but she is the top-ranked woman to only have two scoring races so far in 2024. The 2020 World Champion could therefore vault herself into an overall podium position with a win in Weihai. Given Taylor-Brown’s glittering history of WTCS golds, and her remarkable ability acrosse swim, bike and run, it would be a bold person that would discount her from making the podium this weekend.

For her part, Kate Waugh will have wanted more from that Olympic debut and a second full WTCS season that has not been as successful as she hoped. Being one of the strongest bikers of the circuit, she will be ready to show her power and control both on the uphill and the descents.

German team on the up and up

If there’s a team that is bringing all their power to Weihai is indeed the Germans, with seven women racing this Friday. WTCS medallists Laura Lindemann - also an Olympic Mixed Relay champion -, Annika Koch and Lena Meißner will be starting, as will the reigning World U23 champion Selina Klamt, rising star Tanja Neubert and Tokyo Olympian Anabel Knoll.

Another one that will be ready to get stuck into the hard bike course will be Luxemburg’s Jeanne Lehair, especially after a crash left her out of the race at the Paris Olympics, but she has been on the podium of every race she has started in the last month, and is ready to take up the challenge in Weihai.

Jorgensen and Kasper fly USA flag

Off the back of that 40km bike, it could be difficult for the class runners on the field to make up the gap, but those who still could potentially do it would be the likes of Gwen Jorgensen (USA), Kirsten Kasper (USA), Rosa Tapia (MEX) or Anna Godoy (ESP).

Raring for some top-tier racing at home, Xinyu Lin will lead the women’s Chinese team. Already a qualifier for the Paris Olympics, Lin is one of the youngest athletes in the field. She will be joined by Yifan Yang and it would be no surprise to see Yang be among the first to exit the swim.

With WTCS Weihai coming up fast on Friday morning and the last race in the Series before the Championship Finals Torremolinos-Andalucia, it’s time to take a look at where a podium finish in China could leave the chase for the world title. There are 1,000 points on offer, and the best three results (WTCS, Paris 2024 and Continental Championships) plus the Championship Finals will decide the 2024 World Champions.

Hauser well set, Yee and Wilde heating up

In the men’s hot seat is Matthew Hauser, the Australian sitting pretty at number one thanks to his win in Hamburg, silver in Yokohama and 7th in the Olympic Games. Pierre Le Corre sits just behind him on points, but for him, fellow Frenchman Leo Bergere and Hungary’s Csongor Lehmann, the hard reality is that both Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde have just two scoring results between them and still lie in 3rd and 6th respectively.

A medal of any colour will leave Yee top of the rankings heading in to the Finals, gold for Wilde and fourth for Yee would see the New Zealander top. A win for the likes of Hauser, Le Corre or Bergere would help minimise the possible damage done to their title chances by either man who can leapfrog them.

* white bar denotes current points total for those not racing Weihai

Potter looking to ramp up pressure

In the women’s race to become world champion, there is the certainty of the title being entirely in Cassandre Beaugrand’s hands even with two races to go. Wins at WTCS Cagliari, WTCS Hamburg and, of course, Paris 2024 leave the French star on 2,750 points, over 300 more than second-placed Emma Lombardi.

Britain’s defending champion Beth Potter sits in third, taken there by a trio of third places this season also in Cagliari, Hamburg and Paris. A win this Friday would see her move into second in the rankings, exactly the position she was able to strike from 12 months ago when she scooped that brilliant world championship finale gold, 1,000km north of this year’s Championship Finals.

Georgia Taylor-Brown is the highest-ranked woman lining up in Weihai still with only two scoring races to her name, and who could therefore add the full 1,000 points to her tally with the gold.

Heading into the third and final lap of the run in both the elite men’s and elite women’s races at the European Championships in Vichy, it was almost impossible to call the victor. Both races saw one of the leading lights of the 2024 WTCS season hold the lead while glancing over their shoulders as a British rival hacked away at the distance between them. Whereas the two races offered similar denouements, their outcomes were completely different as Vicky Holland (GBR) and Csongor Lehmann (HUN) each earned the European crown for the first time.

For Holland, a former world champion, Olympic medallist and Commonwealth Games medallist, the European title remained as one of the few achievements left to accomplish in a glittering career. She had claimed the silver medal in Alanya eleven years prior. Now, a little shy of a year after making her post-pregnancy return to elite racing, she grabbed the gold with both hands. Meanwhile, Lehmann’s win comes in a year in which he has also claimed a maiden WTCS medal and won another World Cup gold, highlighting how the former World U23 champion is maturing into one of the preeminent racers of men’s triathlon.

Holland overhauls Periault

Last year’s World U23 champion, Selina Klamt (GER), proved the fastest woman in the water as she led the 1500m river swim in a time of 19:30. Home favourite Leonie Periault (FRA) emerged on her heels and a pack of six women in total came together in a small breakaway on the bike. Jolien Vermeylen (BEL), Holland, Alice Betto (ITA) and Jessica Fullagar (GBR) comprised the rest of the escape pack and together worked well to consign the chasers to a deficit of a minute of the 40km bike.

In light of Periault’s superlative win at WTCS Yokohama earlier in the year, she appeared to be the favourite heading into the 10km run. As such, it was no surprise to see her seize an early lead. Holland and Vermeylen took up the initial challenge of keeping Periault in their sights. The French athlete, however, appeared untroubled as she slowly developed her lead.

Betto and Klamt would later vie with Vermeylen for the bronze medal but attention was taken up the road. After the first half of the run had been Periault’s game, Holland made her move. The gap dwindled as the British athlete honed in on her title rival. The exhortations of the home crowd lifted Periault once again but, as she made the final dead-turn for home, momentum decisively swung Holland’s way. With Periault receiving a 15s penalty for a course violation into T1 and waiting until the last moment to serve it, the Brit was perfectly placed to seize the initiative, powering past to seal the gold medal. A frustrated Periault settled for silver and Betto hung on for bronze ahead of the flying Petra Kurikova (CZE), who logged the fastest run split of the day (32:54).

Lehmann breaks rivals

When the men took their places before the race, it would have been fair for Csongor Lehmann’s attention to have been on what would come over an hour later when the run began. After David Cantero del Campo (ESP) had showcased his running speed by winning the Valencia World Cup a week earlier and with the presence of Hugo Milner (GBR), there were obvious threats to Lehmann’s hopes of victory in the third discipline. As it happened, the first discipline proved to be the more pressing danger.

The Portuguese pair of Miguel Tiago Silva and Joao Nuno Batista enjoyed near-perfect swims and built a lead of 16 seconds over their nearest rival heading into T1. A chase pack headed by Simon Westermann (SUI) and Yanis Seguin (FRA) tried to close the gap but Silva and Batista were in control.

In the end, the danger did not hold for too long. Lehmann was one of the last to make the subsequent lead group that formed, alongside Casper Stornes (NOR) and Sebastian Wernersen (NOR), once the lead pair were caught. Given that Cantero, Milner and further threats were left in the chase pack behind, Lehmann’s brief scare suddenly became an enviable position. By the end of the bike, the advantage of the front group nudged a minute.

A cat-and-mouse 10km run began as multiple contenders sought to challenge Lehmann. Seguin, Silva, Stornes, Westerman and Henry Graf (GER) proved the main threats to the Hungarian athlete as the pack thinned. By the third and final lap, Westerman and Silva had cracked and Graf likewise was starting to lose touch with the leaders after a series of attacks and counter-moves. The medallists, however, were by no means settled as Milner came roaring back through the field.

Lehmann tried to break free of Seguin and Stornes but they clawed their way back to him. Repeated worried glances over their shoulder betrayed that they knew Milner was approaching fast. With the gold at stake, though, none of the trio wanted to play their hand too early. It was at the final dead-turn, having seen Milner, that Stornes unleashed a desperate final move designed to protect a medal rather than reach for the win. In doing so, he provided the perfect launch-pad for Lehmann who did not require a second invitation. Lehmann moved away in the closing few hundred metres to seal the gold ahead of Seguin. Stornes’ smart effort then saw him take bronze ahead of Milner, who, by a whopping 42 seconds, was the fastest runner of the day (28:15).

You can follow the progress of Europe’s triathlon stars across the final stages of the season across all World Triathlon channels.

A brand new World Triathlon Championship Series venue is rolling into view. WTCS Weihai will represent the long-awaited return of triathlon’s highest echelon to China and, as the last race ahead of the Series Final in Torremolinos-Andalucia, it is shaping up to be a pivotal moment in the hunt for the 2024 world title.

Last season, Weihai made its return to the World Cup circuit after an absence of four years. A year later, it has been elevated into a full WTCS stop, the first in China since the 2011 Series Final in Beijing. With WTCS points on the line and the world title in the balance, a star-studded field will make the long trip to Weihai, and hitting those podiums will be a tall order indeed.

Before you catch all the action on TriathlonLive, check out some of the headlining stars and major stories to follow below.

The hunt for the men’s world title

An absolute humdinger of a men’s race will be in store in Weihai, with all six leading men in the 2024 WTCS present. Leading the way will be Matthew Hauser (AUS), the top-ranked man in the standings. A silver medal in Yokohama and a win in Hamburg have set the Australian star up for a tilt at a maiden world title but he will have to be at his best in Weihai if he is to defend his position heading into the WTCS Final.

Pierre Le Corre (FRA) lurks dangerously in 2nd place overall and could cap an illustrious career with a world title of his own. In addition, the Olympic champion Alex Yee (GBR) will be hunting a third win from three after triumphing in Cagliari and Paris. Given that he only has two scores to his name, Yee is the best-placed to usurp Hauser as whatever he does in Weihai should improve his points total.

Leo Bergere (FRA), Hayden Wilde (NZL) and the early season Series leader Luke Willian (AUS) make up the rest of the top-6 in the overall rankings and will also be racing. Bergere and Wilde are known quantities as Olympic medallists and WTCS race winners while Willian powered to a first Series medal in Yokohama back in May. Any one of them could thus disrupt Hauser’s best-laid plans.

Operation Catch Beaugrand

In the women’s event, the current Series leader and Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) and the former Series leader Emma Lombardi (FRA) have opted out of Weihai as they turn their attention to the WTCS Final. Considering that Beaugrand already has three wins to her name this season, she has made the fair calculation that her position is already strong enough to secure the world title. In their absence, Beth Potter (GBR) and Lisa Tertsch (GER) arrive as the highest ranked women.

A win, or even a medal, for either will take them past Lombardi in the standings, however Beaugrand will remain out of reach. If either Potter or Tertsch hope to win the world title this year, though, it will be imperative to eat into as much of Beaugrand’s lead as possible and anything less than a gold medal will increase the French athlete’s chances of ultimate glory.

Meanwhile, Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) will be one to watch. She is currently only ranked 11th overall after 6th place finishes in Cagliari and Paris. The key point is that she only has two scores to her name and is the top ranked woman not to have three scores. The 2020 world champion could therefore vault herself into an overall podium position with a win in Weihai. Given Taylor-Brown’s glittering history of WTCS golds, it would be a bold move to discount her.

A new era begins

One of the most noteworthy features of the Weihai start lists are how there has already been a shift from the Olympic fields. Only 14 male Olympic participants will be racing while the equivalent number in the women’s event stands at 15. As a result, there is an impression that the WTCS field is starting a period of renewal and evolution as the Paris Olympic chapter has come to a close.

Among the new faces to be starting, John Reed (USA) will be making his second ever Series appearance after making his debut in Hamburg in July. Reed comes into Weihai having struck gold at the notoriously challenging Karlovy Vary World Cup and will fancy his chances of ruffling some feathers among the world title contenders. Mercedes Romero Orozco (MEX) is also back after making appearances in the Series a junior in 2019. The Mexican athlete will be one of the youngest starters in Weihai. Similarly, Kyotaro Yoshikawa (JPN) will be making his 2024 Series bow having made a single appearance in each of the past three seasons. He will be the youngest man racing for Japan.

On the other end of the spectrum, we know that Weihai will be one of the final stops in the glorious WTCS career of Vincent Luis (FRA). The double world champion will be moving on at the end of the season and so Weihai will be one of the last chances to watch an icon of the sport in full flow.

The unofficial German Championships

The German Championships took place earlier this month at the Bundesliga final in Hannover where WTCS medallist Annika Koch (GER) powered to the women’s national title. Looking at the start list for Weihai, it would be fair to say that the coming WTCS race stands almost as a second round for the leading German women.

With no fewer than seven women starting, Germany will have the largest contingent in the women’s race. WTCS medallists Laura Lindemann and Lena Meißner will be starting, as will the reigning World U23 champion Selina Klamt. Paris Olympian Nina Eim will be absent, as will Tokyo Olympian Anabel Knoll, but otherwise the German women’s squad in Weihai will be set for a re-match of sorts over national bragging rights. The question is, will Koch manage to come out again?

The sleeping giant?

As already mentioned, it has been quite some time since China hosted a WTCS stop. In Weihai, they will be represented by a highly promising cohort of young athletes. Xinyu Lin will lead the women’s team. Already a qualifier for the Paris Olympics, Lin is one of the youngest athletes in the field. She will be joined by Yifan Yang and it would be no surprise to see Yang be among the first to exit the swim.

Junjie Fan will be one to watch in the men’s race. He won the bronze medal at the Asia Championships over the standard distance earlier this season. To go with that, he also claimed the Asian title over the sprint distance. He may just be the man to carry China’s hopes in their return to the WTCS. 

All three of the starting women and all five of the selected men were born in the 21st century, giving the home team one of the youngest squads in Weihai. With the return of the Series and a crop of rising talent, then, the signs are looking good for a country that may soon become a force in the sport.

Altogether, there will be several different threads to keep tabs on in Weihai. Stay up to date with all the latest across World Triathlon channels and catch the action live next Friday on TriathlonLive.

World Triathlon is pleased to announce the following candidates that are running for positions as World Triathlon Vice President, World Triathlon Executive Board member and World Triathlon Committees. The elections are scheduled to take place during the Congress in Torremolinos, Spain, on 21 October, 2024. All candidatures have been officially approved by the World Triathlon Credentials Committee, ensuring that each candidate meets the stringent eligibility criteria set forth by World Triathlon.

VICE PRESIDENT (4 to be elected):

ALEXANDER, Debbie (RSA)

ALVAREZ, Antonio (MEX)

BRURÅS, Anette (NOR)

COOPER, Michelle (AUS)

DAMGREN, Ria (SWE)

FREUND, Mads (DEN)

GALLEGOS, Gabriela (USA)

HOJAJI, Mohammad (IRI)

HOWARD, Ian (GBR)

OTSUKA, Shin (JPN)

SAINT-JEAN, Bernard (FRA)

VACCHI, Caterina (ITA)

EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER (4 to be elected)

BAGHERIAN, Sajad (IRI)

BRURÅS, Anette (NOR)

BUCHANAN, Leslie (CAN)

COOPER, Michelle (AUS)

DAMGREN, Ria (SWE)

FREUND, Mads (DEN)

GARCIA PEREZ, Alicia (ESP)

GHARBI, Sabeur (TUN)

KUN, Yelena (UZB)

LA PORTA, Marco Antônio (BRA)

SAINT-JEAN, Bernard (FRA)

VACCHI, Caterina (ITA)

AUDIT, RISK & INTEGRITY COMMITTEE (5 to be elected)

BENYARMAK, Mounir (MAR)

BRUMFIELD, Victoria (USA)

CURADO, João (POR)

D’HOOGE, Marc (LUX)

FRIBERG, Beth (SWE)

GORDON, Jamie (GBR)

LANZI, Francesco (ITA)

MCCRORY, Peter (CAN)

NASSIRI, Mohammad (IRI)

RAMACHANDRAN, N. (IND)

ZETINA, Gerardo (MEX)

CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE (7 to be elected)

CERVANTES, Eligio (MEX)

GARCIA PEREZ, Alicia (ESP)

HOJAJI, Mohammad (IRI)

KANAGARAJAH, Reita (MAS)

LI, Liangjie (CHN)

SELMAN, George (LBN)

TO, Winston (CAN)

LEGAL & CONSTITUTION COMMITTEE (7 to be elected)

BORUNDA FIRTH, Sylvia (USA)

DRUWE, Johan (BEL)

KARIM, Tamimount (ALG)

REMPEL, Shawn (CAN)

SELMAN, George (LBN)

STERK, Jan (RSA)

TANG, Suzanne (MAS)

MEDICAL & ANTI DOPING COMMITTEE (7 to be elected)

AGUILAR, Humberto (MEX)

BAGHERIAN, Sajad (IRI)

COIRA NIETO, Luis (ESP)

FRAILE Villarrasa, María José (URU)

GÁLYÁSZ, András (HUN)

GREGOIRE, Marie-Claude (CAN)

HILLER, Doug (USA)

KASANAMI, Ryoji (JPN)

KHOO, Peng Chuan (MAS)

MIGLIORINI, Sergio (ITA)

PEDRO, Ângela (POR)

POULTON, Lena (GBR)

SHUBAT, Dana (SYR)

YASSER HOSNY, Abdelrahman (EGY)

MULTISPORT COMMITTEE (7 to be elected)

ABADE, Gustavo (BRA)

ABDULLA, Said Mohamed (TAN)

ALJUMAH, Mubarak (KUW)

BECERRA, Nelly (MEX)

BOURDEAU, Stephen (CAN)

CALDEIRÃO, David (POR)

CAPILL, Ross (NZL)

CLARKE, Debbie (GBR)

GAYE, Boubacar (SEN)

HENZ, Olivier (BEL)

LAABER, Oliver (AUT)

MARTIN, Daniel (LIE)

MBARAGA, Alexis (RWA)

OLE KOYIET, Salonik (KEN)

QIN, Jianqiu (CHN)

RAHMUNI, Abdennour (MAR)

SAYED, Mohamed (EGY)

TAN, Melody (MAS)

WADA, Tomoko (JPN)

NATIONAL COACHES COMMITTEE (7 to be elected)

ALJUMAH, Mubarak (KUW)

ARENAL, Iñaki (ESP)

BERISTAIN DE RIVERA, Claudia (MEX)

BOLTON, Ryan (USA)

BOURSEAUX, Yannick (FRA)

CRAWFORD, Gordon (IRL)

DE LA REY, Adele (NAM)

DUNNE, Phil (CAN)

ESTRANGEIRO, José (POR)

KIAEI, Hassan (IRI)

KUTTOR, Csaba (HUN)

MILAZZO, Rodrigo (BRA)

MURRAY, Kate (RSA)

SHELDRAKE, Stephen (NZL)

TORRE, Matteo (ITA)

VELATI, Rick (GBR)

YAMANE, Hideki (JPN)

PARA TRIATHLON COMMITTEE (7 to be elected)

ALI, Nadia (EGY)

BOUFTASS, Hicham (MAR)

BOURSEAUX, Yannick (FRA)

CAMPBELL, Beryl (RSA)

DARBY, Grant (CAN)

DAVEY, Catherine (NZL)

DE BRUIN, Bas (NED)

DONALDSON, Alasdair (GBR)

GARCIA FRAILE, Samuel (ESP)

JIACHAO, Wang (CHN)

KELLY, Natasha (IRL)

MACLEOD, Neil Andrew (KGY)

MBARAGA, Alexis (RWA)

MONTEIRO, Sérgio (POR)

NAVA, Abner (MEX)

ONARAN, Mert (TUR)

PALMQUIST, Christine (USA)

RAZEIRA, Ivan (BRA)

ROELS, Bruno (BEL)

TOMIKAWA, Masamitsu (JPN)

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE (7 to be elected)

ALGÜN, Caner (TUR)

ALJUMAH, Mubarak (KUW)

ASSIA, Azouz (ALG)

BERNARDO, Rudi (POR)

BOGAERT, Dirk (BEL)

BRANDT, Paul (USA)

BUHASSAN, Abbas (BRN)

CADAVAL, Jaime (MEX)

CHARKOUSKAYA-TARASEVICH, Maryia (GEO)

CORREA NEVES, Ricardo (BRA)

GARCIA, Jorge (ESP)

GRIGAITIS, Žilvinas (LTU)

MURRAY, Lyndell (AUS)

OLE KOYIET, Salonik (KEN)

RANJKESH, Faramarz (IRI)

RYAN, Janice (CAN)

SAAD ALLAH, Ahmed (EGY)

SUZUKI, Kiriyo (JPN)

VARGA, Béla Gábor (HUN)

VINE, Howard (GBR)

WOMEN’S COMMITTEE (7 to be elected)

CHARBONNEAU, Jo-Annie (CAN)

CHEN, Zhang (CHN)

FREITAS, Elinai (BRA)

HATA, Erika (JPN)

HOUGH, Duncan (GBR)

JURADO, Graciela (BOL)

KUN, Yelena (UZB)

LINNE, Jannike (SWE)

NADER, Lindzi (LBN)

QUILO GONZALEZ, Cinthia (MEX)

ROSSITER-STEAD, Catherine (NZL)

SHEREMET, Evgeniya (BLR)

TONG, Sandra (MAS)

YÜKSEL TAMA, Saliha (TUR)

 

 

 

 

The final standard distance continental triathlon championships of the year will take place in Vichy, France, this weekend with many of Europe’s best set to vie for a gold medal that, dating back to 1985, precedes even the world title itself. After the hilly course of Madrid last season, Vichy will serve an altogether different challenge. The athletes will tackle a river swim before moving onto an extremely fast riverside bike and run consisting of seven 5.7km and three 3.3km laps apiece. With minimal changes in elevation and plenty of long straights, the course will be a real test of power and speed. A major prize, a fast course and a stacked line-up will thus be on offer in Vichy in a championship that could go in any number of ways.

The men’s field

Csongor Lehmann (HUN) arrives as perhaps the man to beat after winning a maiden WTCS medal in Cagliari early this season. He finished 3rd on that unforgettable day in Sardinia. A former World U23 champion and a winner of multiple World Cups, including on home turf in Tiszaujvaros once again in July, Lehmann has no shortage of big wins to his name. This weekend, he will have the chance to claim one of the few titles that has eluded him.

Two key rivals to any Lehmann victory will be David Cantero del Campo (ESP) and Hugo Milner (GBR). Cantero won the Valencia World Cup for the second straight year last weekend. As it happens, that matches Lehmann’s Tiszaujvaros feat. A superb runner, Cantero has all the speed necessary to make Lehmann uncomfortable in the third discipline. Meanwhile, Milner won the Miyazaki World Cup at the end of the 2023 season. In the time since, he has made the step up to the WTCS and notably finished 13th in Cagliari. Most significantly, he clocked the third fastest run split that day, almost matching the efforts of Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde. At the same race, the run split that carried Lehmann to bronze was over 30 seconds slower than Milner. Of course, Milner did not make the front pack which is an important factor to acknowledge. Nevertheless, his running prowess cannot be understated.

The experienced Casper Stornes (NOR) goes again after claiming a recent silver medal at the Karlovy Vary World Cup. His result comes after he finished 5th at WTCS Hamburg in his best Series performance since winning in Bermuda back in 2018. The Norwegian threat will also be enhanced by the presence of Vetle Bergsvik Thorn, the 2023 European Games champion. Like Stornes, Thorn has also medalled at the World Cup level in 2024.

There will be plenty of rising talent in the field and the likes of Yanis Seguin (FRA) and Valentin Morlec (FRA) will start having earned maiden World Cup medals this year in Samarkand and Tiszaujvaros, respectively. Both are well-rounded athletes with strengths across each discipline. In addition, there is a noteworthy cohort of athletes that have enjoyed recent success at the European Championships. Nicola Azzano (ITA) is the newly-crowned European super sprint champion, a title he won in Balikesir in August. He will look to double up on continental titles for the year this weekend. Adrien Briffod (SUI) is the returning bronze medallist from last year, albeit in a race held as a duathlon, and will push to convert that into gold. Finally, João Nuno Batista (POR), the 2023 World Junior and European Junior champion, could be a dark horse to watch in a race that has a plethora of potential winners.

The women’s field

The name to watch in the women’s race will be none other than Leonie Periault (FRA). After striking gold at WTCS Yokohama earlier this year, she will be the home team’s leading hope for a win in Vichy. Periault is a World Cup winner and has previously nabbed European titles in the mixed team relay. As yet, though, an individual continental gold medal remains missing from her mantelpiece. On her day, she is one of the best runners in the world of triathlon and if she navigates the fast, flat bike course without issue, she will be tough to beat.

One woman that would have put Periault under pressure in the opening discipline is Bianca Seregni (ITA). The Italian athlete was on paper the fastest swimmer in the field and has regularly detonated races before, however the triple World Cup winner from 2023 is a late withdrawal due to COVID. In her place,Alice Betto (ITA), another World Cup winner from last season, will stand as a key threat to a Periault victory from the Italian team.

The 2023 World U23 champion, Selina Klamt (GER), will renew her rivalry against Maria Tomé (POR), who won silver at the World U23 Championships last year. Both have gone from strength to strength over the past year with Tomé recently finishing an impressive 13th place at the Olympic Games. On the other end of the experience spectrum, Vicky Holland (GBR), the 2018 world champion, will be starting in Vichy. Holland claimed a silver medal in Tiszaujvaros earlier this year and will look to add a final title to an illustrious career. Her compatriot Jessica Fullagar could also turn some heads. She won a maiden World Cup medal in Samarkand and is among the best cyclists in the field. If Seregni could rip up the race early on, Fullagar is one that could turn the race on its head in the second discipline.

Solveig Løvseth (NOR), the European Games champion from last year, Cathia Schär (SUI) the returning bronze medallist, and Diana Isakova (AIN), the bronze medallist from Tiszaujvaros, could all feature prominently this weekend. If there is one lesson to learn from recent history across the wildly different European Championships, it is something unexpected to unfold.

Get ready, then, for a pair of explosive races in Vichy this weekend with the women racing on Saturday 21st September at 13:45 (CEST) and the men at 16:15 (CEST). You can stay up to date with all the latest across World Triathlon channels.

The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) and World Triathlon have announced that France will be added to the 2025 T100 Triathlon World Tour calendar alongside confirmed returns to Singapore (12-13 April), San Francisco (31 May-1 June), London (2-3 August), Ibiza (27-28 September), Las Vegas (25-26 October) and Dubai (November).

The French Riviera T100 will be take place in a soon-to-be-announced location in the beautiful South of France over the weekend of 16-18 May, 2025 and include: 100km races for the world’s leading female and male T100 professionals as well as a 100km triathlon (2km swim, 80km bike, 18km run) for age groupers and a range of ancillary events that creates a ‘festival of multisport’.

Welcoming the news, PTO CEO Sam Renouf said: “It’s exciting to be able to share that the T100 Triathlon World Tour will be heading to the French Riviera next season and that we’re also able to advise on the dates for six of the other 2025 legs for both professionals and age groupers as we look to grow the series.”

“We’re delighted to be working with the French Triathlon Federation and local partners to stage what will be a formidable weekend of triathlon and multisport activities. The French Riviera presents a stunning backdrop and iconic location for our pros and amateur participants to enjoy as well as the fans watching around the world. We will announce full details of the weekend, including the timetable and registration information in due course. After the sell-out fields in London and Dubai, we expect this to fill up quickly, so you can already sign up for priority registration on our website.

“Having hosted three stellar Olympic triathlon races as part of the Olympic Games in Paris over the summer and then 11 Para triathlon races during the Paralympics, this is the perfect time to be announcing that the T100 Triathlon World Tour will be heading to France next year,” added Marisol Casado, World Triathlon President and IOC Member. “As we plan the second season of our partnership with the PTO, we’re already working hard on ways in which the T100 series can complement our existing events and minimise clashes to create a sustainable calendar for the athletes.”

Speaking on behalf of the current crop of T100 contracted athletes, France’s Sam Laidlow said: “It’s encouraging to see the 2025 T100 Triathlon World Tour already starting to take shape and having competed in Singapore and won in London this year, I know exactly what the weekends entail in terms of competitive racing, prize money, prestige, global media exposure and atmosphere. The series is a fantastic addition to our calendar and it’s exciting to have a ‘home’ race to look forward to at the start of next season.”

With the PTO having multi-year contracts in place with Singapore, San Francisco, London, Ibiza, Lake Las Vegas and Dubai - and following successful T100 events in the first three cities already this season - the 2025 T100 Triathlon World Tour calendar is already taking shape.

Next up in 2024 is Ibiza on 28-29 September.

The golden hour in Valencia has a special meaning for David Cantero del Campo. The Spanish rising star made it clear that racing at home gives you “about a 10% of extra power” to claim the 2024 World Triathlon Cup Valencia in front of the home crowd that included his parents, friends and family. Second on the day was Australia’s Callum McClusky, while another Spaniard, Sergio Baxter Cabrera, rounded a perfect day for the Spanish team claiming the last spot of the podium.

The course in Valencia, flat, fast and technical looked like homemade for the star of the large Spanish team deployed in the Mediterranean city for the World Cup, David Cantero. The young rising star, only 22 years of age and born and raised in Valencia, had proven before that he is one of the fastest men on the circuit when it all comes down to a run, but the question of the day was if he would be able to repeat his outstanding victory on the same course just one year ago.

But one year can be a really long time, especially if the summer was one with a few set backs for the young Spaniard, who had to cope with a few injuries after his 4th place earlier this season in Hong Kong and a 5th in Samarkand. But missing the Olympics meant a long block of training for Cantero, and by the results of the race in Valencia, it did pay off.

The race started with a fast non wetsuit swim that was led by Darr Smith (USA) and Nicola Azzano (ITA), and both of them led a small group of 8 athletes that tried to break away in the first meters of the bike segment. The group of nine had newcomers on the circuit and getting organised was not easy, and soon the 15 seconds difference faded away, as the chase group led by Antonio Serrat Seoane, Sergio Baxter Cabrera, David Cantero and Gabor Faldum got the chasers organised.

Half way through the 20km bike, the leaders were caught by the chasers and a massive train, with over thirty athletes, just tried to save some legs during the remaining two laps of the flat bike course, but also trying to stay out of trouble by keeping positions in front of the group.

The first one to touch the ground in the second transition was Cantero, displaying a super fast dismount and transition, enough to give him a few seconds of a lead in the first meters of the run, along with Australia’s Callum McClusky, the only one able to follow the speedy Spaniard.

McClusky, another great runner, stayed right at the heels of Cantero during the first lap of the run, while behind them three other Spaniards -Serrat, Baxter and Genis Grau- along with Hungary’s Gabor Faldom followed their feet, knowing that they would have to fight for the remaining spot on the podium.

But Cantero was not willing to give anyone a chance and didn’t want to leave the glory for the last sprint. With almost two kilometers to go, the Spaniard pushed and this time, McClusky was not able to follow him, while the crowds went wild. Cheering Cantero’s name, the Spaniard flew back to the Marina to step on the blue carpet not looking back, ready to enjoy the last meters by himself, and crossed the finish line all smiles, with time to bow in respect for the crowds that helped him to get the victory in Valencia, second in a row for him. “This race couldn’t have been any better. I had my family and friends here supporting me and they gave me all the strengh I needed today to be able to win here”, he said. “This season has not been easy for me, but this win here gives me the confidence to end the season with a high. Today was a really tactic race but it did play out, I am really happy”, he explained.

Second on the day was McClusky, on his second podium on a World Cup after his win in Napier, the first World Cup of the season. “David Cantero pushed me all day today, it was a really good showdown and I can only congratulate him”, he said. “The start of the season was really good for me but I was not able to match that performance afterwards so I am really happy to be back in good form now”.

The sprint for bronze between Serrat and Baxter ended up with the younger, Baxter, claiming the remaining spot of the podium, a third place that meant the world for him, after a year dealing with multiple injuries and being sick in bed the last four days. “It feels great to be back on the podium, last time was quite a while ago, surely not this year. I haven’t been able to train properly for a while, so really happy to be back on the podium, and even more here on home soil”. “I tried to leave Serrat behind on the second lap but I couldn’t. We both knew that one will go home without a medal and I didn’t want to be that one, so I found a last push and made it”, he said.

Serrat ended up with the bittersweet chocolate medal, fourth place, while Arnaud Mengal (BEL) closed the top five with a great run split, 14:30. The 6th place was for Azzano, with Reese Vannerson (USA), Liam Donnelly (CAN), Grau and Faldum rounding the top ten, a mix of new comers to the circuit with some of the most experienced athletes.

It was no turning back for Germany’s Lisa Tertsch as the current Olympic champion of the Mixed Relay delivered a classy run segment to take the tape of the 2024 World Triathlon Cup Valencia on her first race after the Olympics. Second on the day was Olivia Mathias, delivering an impressive race beginning to end after two years struggling with injuries, while the bronze medal was for France’s Candice Denizot on her first ever World Cup podium.

Over 40 women lined up at the Valencia Marina with the sun shining bright up on the sky of the Mediterranean city, with the water at 28 degrees and the sea calm and flat, but the swim was not an easy one, with a large group making it together to the first buoy, ending up with many involved in the usual ‘washing machine’ before heading back to the Marina.

And it was Australia’s Emma Jeffcoat the one who faced the swim exit ramp in first place, followed by Candice Denizot (FRA), Olivia Mathias (GBR) and Sophie Howell (CAN), with Zuzana Michalickova (SVK) and Diana Isakova (AIN) the first ones that were not able to make the lead group.

As soon as the four leaders were on the bike, Mathias and Jeffcoat started to get organised and push hard to try to open a significant break, knowing that the German squad, led by Lisa Tertsch and Tanja Neubert, would be trying to catch them before they finish the 20km bike course.

Mathias and Jeffcoat put their heads down and worked in turns, followed by Howell and Denizot, and by the time they were half way through the bike, the four had a 40 seconds lead over the chase group, let by Tertsch, Anna Godoy Contreras (ESP), Noelia Juan (ESP), Maria Casals Mujica (ESP), Solveig Løvseth (NOR) and Tanja Neubert (GER). The flat out and back course made it hard for the large chase group, while the four in front were not taking it easy. With less than one lap to go, Løvseth and Neubert added one extra gear and left the chase group on the chase of the leaders, but ended up on no one’s land for the last two kilometers, to hit the second transition just 15 seconds before the leading four.

Mathias and Denizot had both excellent transitions and were quickly on the run before the chasers hit the blue carpet, but the large group managed to finally get organised and started the run only 21 seconds behind. And that’s the moment when the real chase started. While Mathias and Denizot moved up in front, Tertscht moved like a panther, and by the time they had finished the first couple of kilometers, she was already breathing on the neck of Emma Jeffcoat, at that moment in third place.

Mathias and Denizot started to look behind them quite nervous, but the German look determined and continued the chase, and with 1.5 kilometers to go moved to the first place, not even looking back when she passed the Brit and the French, knowing that behind them another fast German was coming: Tanja Neubert. She also managed to move in front of Jeffcoat, who struggled in the second lap of the run, and brought with her Solveig Løvseth, also in the chase of a podium position.

Facing the blue carpet, Tertscht had no one on sight and was all smiles when she grabbed the tape to claim the second gold of her career at the Valencia World Cup, after her victory in 2022, a boost of confidence for the German before heading to Weihai for the next stop of the World Triathlon Championship Series. “I am exhausted now, but I could feel that my legs were ready for a good run today, so I am really happy with the result”, she said, after crossing the finish line. “I knew that I had some time to make up for, I was trying to run at my own pace in the first lap, but of course you see that you are coming closer and is easy to go too fast so I was trying to not over pace myself, although is very tempting to push more. I didn’t want to leave it til the blue carpet, you never know what every one has on their legs at the end but it did work out well for me”, she said.

The German clocked a fantastic 16:05 run split to claim gold, while Mathias managed to cross the finish line in second place, a silver with a taste of much more after the challenging year for the Brit. “Finally we managed to make a swim-bike breakaway and make it until the finish line or almost. All four of us worked so hard on the bike to get away, I can only congratulate them (Jeffcoat, Howell and Denizot) for their amazing work today. It doesn’t happen often to have all of us willing to commit and I can only thank them. I knew that after that bike the run will be hard, but I just tried to stay calm and believe on myself. This year has been rough, so this just feels great”, said Mathias.

Also delighted was Denizot, climbing on a World Cup podium for the first time of her career on her second World Cup appearance. “I am really happy, we all did a great jov today”, she said.

Fourth on the finish line was Neubert, with Løvseth close behind to round a top five. Diana Isakova crossed the finish line in 6th place, followed by Emma Jeffcoat, Jule Behrens (GER), Anna Godoy Contreras (ESP) and Zuzana Michalickova (SVK) closing the top 10.