From a timing perspective, the Valencia World Cup is perfectly situated between the Paris Olympic Test Event and the WTCS Final in Pontevedra. The city has good connections to the rest of Europe, making it fairly easy to get to, and offers the chance to race in Spanish conditions ahead of the Final.
The race will also be held over the Sprint distance which should not prove too taxing for those heading on to Pontevedra.
As a result, an impressive field will flock to the town to tackle the event.
Who’s there?
Manoel Messias, last year’s men’s winner, will return to take a crack at defending his gold medal. With two WTCS medals to his name this year, Messias will be among the favourites when the event kicks off. He will be joined by Miguel Hidalgo, Antonio Bravo Neto and Kaue Willy from the Brazilian squad.
The European champion, David Castro Fajardo, will lead a formidable home team. WTCS medallists Roberto Sanchez Mantecon and Antonio Serrat Seoane will also be in the Spanish ranks, as will World Cup medallists Genis Grau, Alberto Gonzalez Garcia and Sergio Baxter Cabrera. The promising youngster David Cantero Del Campo rounds out the Spanish line up.
When it comes to big names in the sport, few are bigger than Alex Yee right now. The Olympic medallist has claimed two WTCS wins in 2023 and will look to add a World Cup gold to a glittering season.
A sense of the young and the old will also race for Britain. The World U23 champion, Connor Bentley, will be racing, as will the former world champion and Olympic medallist Jonathan Brownlee. It is conceivable that both could end up in direct competition for a spot on the British Olympic team next year. Brownlee represents the tried-and-trusted and is a proven performer. Yet if Bentley can log a big result in Valencia, he could potentially kickstart a late charge.
Leo Bergere, Tom Richard and Dorian Coninx were originally slated to race for France but have been substituted out for Baptiste Passemard, Arthur Berland and Valentin Morlec.
Maxime Hueber Moosbrugger and Paul Georgenthum complete the rest of the French men’s team.
Kristian Blummenfelt has also been switched out of the event to allow Casper Stornes to start. Vetle Bergsvik Thorn, the European Games champion, and Gustav Iden will also be racing for Norway.
Lasse Nygaard Priester will be at the forefront of the German contingent. With Jonas Schomburg, Lasse Lührs, Valentin Wernz and Jannik Schaufler, the team will have several men that could contest for a medal.
An Italian trio of Michele Sarzilla, Nicola Azzano and Gianluca Pozzatti will try to nap a medal. As a World Cup winner from 2022, Pozzatti may have the best shot of adding another win, although Sarzilla and Azzano should be in the mix.
Oscar Dart of Australia is one of several men to be a lone representative of his country. Among those also to travel to Valencia as the only male starters for their team are Arnaud Mengal, Panagiotis Bitados, Márk Dévay, James Edgar and Shachar Sagiv.
The winner of the women’s race at the 2022 Valencia World Cup, Lisa Tertsch, will also be back.
Nina Eim, Anabel Knoll and WTCS medallists Laura Lindemann and Annika Koch will join Tertsch the German team.
On the home front, Miriam Casillas Garica will look to record a big result for Spain. World Cup medallist Noelia Juan could equally push for a place on the podium. With the likes of Marta Pintanel Raymundo, Sara Guerrero Manso, Anna Godoy Contreras, Cecilia Santamaria Surroca and Maria Casals Mojica also starting, Spain will have plenty of depth and several candidates that could earn high finishes.
Britain will also be sending WTCS medallists in the form of Sophie Coldwell and Georgia Taylor-Brown. Given the latter’s calf injury, though, the expectation is that she will be substituted out in the coming weeks. Sophia Green completes the British female cohort.
World Cup medallists Sandra Dodet and Mathilde Gautier will be starting for France. Both logged a string of impressive performances at the World Cup level in 2022 and it would be no surprise to see them push for a podium in Valencia. Dodet has already won a French Grand Prix this year while Gautier is the World Military champion.
Charlotte McShane and Ellie Hoitink will race for Australia while Lotte Miller and the European Games gold medallist, Solveig Løvseth are due to start for Norway.
Beligum and Italy will be sending four women to race in Valencia. The in-form Jolien Vermeylen leads the team for the former with Claire Michel, Valerie Barthelemy and Katrin Maes also racing. The latter will be represented by Verena Steinhauser, Bianca Seregni, Costanza Arpinelli and Angelica Prestia.
Vittoria Lopes, Djenyfer Arnold and Luisa Baptista will race with each looking to seal a place in the top-30 of the Olympic rankings to earn a third Olympic slot for Brazil.
Petra Kurikova, a World Cup winner in Pontevedra last year, and Tereza Zimovjanova will start for the Czech Republic.
As the with the men’s field, a number of countries will have only one woman starting. Included in this group are Jeanne Lehair, Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto, Rani Skrabanja, Cathia Schär, Tilda Månsson and Gwen Jorgensen.
Main talking points
Pontevedra rehearsals
With Valencia taking place three weeks out from both the WTCS Final and the World U23 Championships, it offers an ideal final chance to race and make any final adjustments before the high point of the season.
When it comes to the WTCS, Coldwell is best placed of the women’s field to take a run at the world title. Meanwhile, Yee will likely be in a position to take a run at the men’s crown. Both kept their race diaries fairly empty in June and July and will likely conclude their year with the run of Paris-Valencia-Pontevedra.
The racing at the WTCS Final, though, goes beyond the Series itself. In several cases, athletes may need a top-8 result in Pontevedra (or a similar high finish) to lock in selection for next year’s Olympic Games.
Valencia therefore offers a tune-up ahead of the final selection race of the year.
Runner’s paradise
Last year’s racing saw plenty of fast run splits settle the podium. On the women’s side, Tertsch and Dodet were separated by a rapid split from Anahi Alvarez Corral while the men’s race saw some blistering times from Mario Mola, Matthew McElroy and more.
The likes of Yee and Tertsch will likely relish the chance to stretch their legs at one of the fastest courses on the calendar.
However, Manoel Messias also showed last year that a well-timed breakaway late on the bike could yield major rewards. While he backed it up with a super run split, his attack on the bike set up his victory.
It is unlikely anyone will be able to use Messias’ trick in the same way, but his example demonstrated that the balance of the race can be upset before the run. If no one gets away, though, expect a roaring 5km to unfold.
Spanish success
Spain put four men in the top-6 in Valencia with a commanding team display last time round. With a similarly strong squad due to race this year, it would be fair to expect another monopoly of the top positions.
Sergio Baxter Cabrera and Genis Grau won World Cups last year, while Baxter added a silver medal in Tiszaujvaros recently. Both can therefore be expected to go well. The biggest threat, though, will be posed by David Castro Fajardo. Castro won the Huatulco World Cup after claiming the European title.
Over the Sprint distance, he is a tough opponent to beat and the Sprint distance suits him well.
Noelia Juan made the top-10 in the women’s race last year while Godoy and Guerrero finished in the top-20. With Casillas also racing and Pintanel a more experienced athlete than a year ago, Spain can also look to put multiple athletes in the top-10 this year.
You can view the full start lists here.
