The fifth round of the 2023 WTCS saw several athletes make their moves towards the top of the Series standings. With only WTCS Sunderland and the Paris Olympic Test Event to go before the Final in Pontevedra, opportunities are running out to make a play for the world title.
In the women’s rankings, Beth Potter moved to the top of the leaderboard after making a gain of 4 places.
With 2986 points to her name, Potter holds a lead of 150 points over Taylor Spivey. Whereas Potter has two wins, a silver medal and a 5th place from her outings this season, Spivey has two bronze medals, a 4th place and a 7th place.
Summer Rappaport and Georgia Taylor-Brown then follow in 3rd and 4th place. Both have logged four results this year, however their fourth score currently holds them back from competing with Potter and Spivey. For Taylor-Brown, a 15th place in Abu Dhabi limits her position while 10th place finishes in Yokohama and Hamburg currently weigh Rappaport’s total score down.
In light of Taylor-Brown’s calf injury, her tilt at the world title may be over.
Jeanne Lehair is in 5th place and stands over 700 points down on Potter. The likelihood is that she is out of the running but she nonetheless enjoying a wonderful season.
Cassandre Beaugrand made up 6 places in the standings to move to 6th after her win in Hamburg. Notably, the French athlete is the highest ranked woman with only three results to her name.
Almost 200 points behind Beaugrand is Sophie Coldwell. The Brit lies is 7th place and also has three results to her name. However, while Beaugrand will be racing at both WTCS Sunderland and the Paris Test Event, Coldwell will only race at the latter.
If Beaugrand can finish on the podium at both events, she would likely assume the Series lead. Moreover, wins at both events could put her around 400 points clear of Potter at the top of the table. That being said, Potter could obviously improve her score in Paris too.
A win for Coldwell in Paris would put her 2 points clear of Potter. A top-4 finish for Potter, though, would improve on her current total and guarantee a lead over Coldwell heading into the Final in Pontevedra.
The women’s Series therefore remains fairly open with six or seven women in the running to take the win. At this stage, an overall win for Potter or Beaugrand seems to be the likelier outcome, with the former having the initiative for the time being while the latter has the greatest scope to add to her points.
Throughout the women’s rankings, there was plenty of movement after WTCS Hamburg. Several athletes made big jumps.
One big riser was Laura Lindemann. The bronze medallist in Hamburg improved her ranking by 17 places to move into 13th place. She now sits just behind Lisa Tertsch in 10th and Nina Eim in 11th.
This is particularly pertinent as if any German Olympic slots are available after the racing in Paris and Pontevedra, one will go to the best ranked German woman in the top-12 of the WTCS. That could be any of Tertsch, Eim or Lindemann.
Similarly, Marlene Gomez-Göggel jumped 14 places to 21st after her performance in Hamburg. She therefore also has a shot at rising into the WTCS top-12 and claiming the top German spot.
After an impressive 4th place in Hamburg, Annika Koch also climbed 33 places to 24th.
The biggest riser after Hamburg, though, was Jolien Vermeylen. The Belgian athlete rose a massive 53 places to 37th after finishing 9th.
Among the other notable rises inside the top-50, Nicole Van Der Kaay gained 11 places to move to 16th, Rachel Klamer bumped herself up 22 places into 36th and Anabel Knoll rose 29 places into 44th. Sophie Linn also snuck into 50th after making a rise of 19 places.
Meanwhile, on the men’s side, Vasco Vilaca extended his lead at the top of the rankings to 116 points. He now has 2938 points in total. However, several men are closing in on him.
Hayden Wilde moved up 2 places following his win in Hamburg. He now sits in 2nd place overall with 2822 points.
Matthew Hauser and Alex Yee also climbed 2 places to assume 3rd and 4th place, respectively. Hauser’s total now rests at 2514 points while Yee has 2498 points from three races.
Yee will only be racing at the Test Event in Paris prior to the Final but a win there could vault him into contention for the world title. To all intents and purposes, though, Wilde also only has three scores. His current fourth score is a 46th place from Abu Dhabi when he suffered a puncture. He will be racing both Sunderland and Paris; after his win in Hamburg, a win in at least one would likely put him ahead of Yee, even if Yee wins in Paris.
Hauser will next race in Paris while Vilaca will join Wilde in Sunderland and Paris. A podium at either race for the Portuguese athlete would improve upon his 8th place in Cagliari and keep him in the running for the world title.
At this stage, the likeliest outcome is that Wilde assumes the Series lead in the coming weeks, leaving him to fend off Vilaca and Yee in Pontevedra.
Kristian Blummenfelt jumped 5 places in the rankings to 5th after a season best result of 4th in Hamburg. He trails Vilaca by almost 800 points and is out of the conversation for the world title. Nevertheless, a top-5 at the end of the year would provide a very good platform from which to build towards the Paris Olympics.
Dorian Coninx and Leo Bergere then sit in 6th and 7th, respectively, with three races. Neither should be counted out for the world title, particularly after Bergere’s performance at last season’s WTCS Final. Still, the gap appears insurmountable even if one of them wins in both Paris and Pontevedra.
Among the athletes to rise into the top-10 after Hamburg, Csongor Lehmann has moved into in 8th after rising 3 places. Marten Van Riel also jumped 5 places into 10th.
Tim Hellwig moved up 10 places into 19th and could exploit the same German Olympic selection policy as his female counterparts. Lasse Lührs is in the same boat having risen 11 places into 26th.
Max Studer made the biggest improvement across the top-50 of the rankings. He bounced up 26 places into 21st.
Several other men made noteworthy jumps, including Tayler Reid (up 10 places to 22nd), Seth Rider (up 14 places to 27th) and Tom Richard (up 16 places to 38th). Just like Sophie Linn, Jawad Abdelmoula also improved by 15 places to take 50th place in the rankings.
