Yee and Wilde Drop Out of WTCS Montreal

The two race winners in the men’s 2023 WTCS, Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde, have withdrawn from WTCS Montreal.

Yee, the winner of WTCS Abu Dhabi and WTCS Cagliari, has opted against making the trip across the Atlantic. Similarly, his British teammate Barclay Izzard has pulled out of the event. Meanwhile, Wilde, the winner of WTCS Yokohama, has been switched out for Dylan McCullough.

Wilde is coming off a win at the French Grand Prix in Bordeaux. To then travel and race at WTCS Montreal would have been quite a turnaround.

With Leo Bergere having not originally entered the race, none of the 2022 WTCS podium will be returning. Moreover, Montreal will have completely new medallists from last year in the absence of Yee, Wilde and Bergere.

With a Mixed Team Relay also on the schedule, the withdrawals could have wider impacts. Britain have already qualified a relay for Olympic Games next year. New Zealand, however, have not and so will still need to defend their slot in the relay rankings to be in a position to qualify.

Another name to drop out of the event is Morgan Pearson. With his running speed, Pearson would have been a candidate for a medal, although he has not yet quite pieced together the race he is capable of over the Sprint distance.

From the German team, Lasse Lührs and Johannes Vogel are out and in their place Tim Hellwig and Jannik Schaufler will be racing. For both Hellwig and Schaufler, Montreal will offer a rare window to impress and earn valuable points towards their world rankings.

Among the new faces on the start list are Callum Mcclusky and Jacob Birtwhistle. On the home front, Martin Sobey and Jeremy Briand have also been added. Sobey won the Americas Cup race in La Habana earlier in the year and will be looking to translate that form onto the highest stage.

One final new face to note is Gustav Iden. Iden had appeared in all three stops of the Series already and will now be making his fourth start in a row. As things stand, he is in a tight battle with Vetle Bergsvik Thorn for the second slot on the Norwegian Olympic team. Any points he can score will therefore boost his cause.

Among the women, WTCS medallist and recent European Championships medallist Lisa Tertsch is among the biggest names to withdraw from the race. Likewise Nina Eim has opted against racing in Montreal.

In their place, Annika Koch has been bumped up from the wait list to the start list.

From a domestic perspective, the German changes may have a ripple effect on Bundesliga Schliersee. For example, Eim could now potentially start for Potsdam, whereas Buschhütten will certainly lose the services of Koch.

Miriam Casillas Garcia is also out of WTCS Montreal. Spain will instead be represented by Noelia Juan and Marta Pintanel Raymundo.

One final change to note on the start list is the inclusion of Brea Roderick of New Zealand. Montreal will mark Roderick’s WTCS debut and comes after she finished 11th at the New Plymouth World Cup and 6th at both Oceania Championships over the Sprint and Olympic distances earlier this year.

You can view the latest start lists here.