It’s now February which means elite triathlon racing is around the corner. With WTCS Abu Dhabi just over four weeks away, we are continuing with the TriStats Top 30 Triathletes of 2023.
As we mentioned in the previous men’s post, this is not designed as a prediction for the season, but rather a more general assessment of where the field stands coming out of 2022. Some athletes are better single day racers while some are better over a season and we’ve tried to factor that into the rankings.
Without further ado, let’s continue with the men from 24th through to 19th.
24) Bence Bicsák HUN
Bicsák spent years as one of the biggest young prospects in the sport and he is gradually fulfilling that promise. After winning bronze at the World U23 Championships in 2016, he won his first World Cup in 2017.
He followed that with a bronze medal at WTCS Yokohama. Until the pandemic, then, Bicsák had been trending upwards for a few years.
The start of 2021 showed that Bicsák was a little rusty as he recorded a string of finishes outside the top-20 of WTCS races and a European Cup. However, he found his groove again at the Tokyo Olympics where he finished 7th.
Later in the year, to start the 2022 WTCS, he won a bronze medal at WTCS Abu Dhabi.
Bicsák has been a part of the Joel Filliol training group for a while now and it feels like he has one more step to take to really establish himself.
He managed two top-10 finishes in the 2022 WTCS season so consistency appears to be the main piece of the puzzle for him to add. When races don’t quite go his way, he often finds himself finishing outside the top-20.
He was born in 1995 so he should be entering his prime years. With that, perhaps Bicsák will develop that final piece of consistency to elevate himself to the next level.
23) Miguel Hidalgo BRA
From one former young prospect to one of the newest. Miguel Hidalgo is not yet a WTCS or World Cup medallist but might be one of the most exciting youngsters coming through in the sport.
In 2022, he finished 6th at WTCS Leeds while displaying serious speed in the swim and the run. In addition, he won World Cup bronze medals in 2021 and 2022.
He also had the distinction of being the only man born in the 21st century to be ranked in the top-40 of the WTCS last year.
A tibia fracture derailed the second half of his 2022 however he was still able to win the South American Games. That race was over the Sprint distance which is clearly Hidalgo’s better distance right now. Over time, he will develop the strength to be a factor over the Olympic distance too.
Still, the speed he has shown already will make him a factor in practically any Sprint race he starts at the WTCS or World Cup level.
His youth has counted in his favour here. At his age, it is unlikely he will be slowing down any time soon and the threat he poses over the Sprint distance means he is already knocking on the door of being one of the top-20 triathletes in the world.
22) Márk Dévay HUN
Márk Dévay is probably the best swimmer in the world of triathlon right now (although Vincent Luis might disagree). At six of the seven WTCS events he raced at last season, he had either the fastest or second fastest swim time. In the one race he was not in the top two, he had the third fastest time.
Perhaps his best swim came at the European Championships in Munich where only two athletes were able to get within five seconds of him as he stretched the field.
In the end, Dévay finished 23rd in the overall WTCS with four finishes inside the top-20.
It is fair to say that his run is not yet at the level of his other two disciplines and currently is the element that is holding him back from breaking into the top-10 on a regular basis.
However, there are two points to note on that front. The first is that Dévay is actually a year younger than Bicsák. As such, there is still plenty of time for him to develop his run.
The second point is that he will benefit from breakaways going forward. Dévay is strong on the bike and, going by the end of 2022, the men’s WTCS may be evolving to favour swim-bikers exactly like him.
If the style of racing continues in its current trajectory and Dévay can find a little bit more on the run, he will become a much greater threat to the WTCS top-10.
21) Joao Silva POR
Silva is the wise old owl of the field. (Ok, he isn’t that old, there’s just a lot of youngsters right now).
He is a two-time WTCS race winner (Yokohama in 2011 and 2012) and won his most recent WTCS medal in Abu Dhabi 2016 where he finished 3rd.
In 2022, Silva finished 8th at WTCS Hamburg which was his best WTCS finish since 2018. He then followed that up with a 9th place finish at the WTCS Final in Abu Dhabi. After a season in which he had five WTCS finishes between 8th and 11th, a case certainly could be made for having Silva inside the top-20.
However, the combination of his age and form makes it hard to ascertain whether he would medal at a WTCS race against the current field.
Based on his consistency in 2022, Silva would be a top-20 athlete yet he is just edged out by a couple of athletes that have won WTCS medals more recently.
20) Mario Mola ESP
Three world titles means that Mola is one of the best ever to have raced in the WTCS. With his brilliant running ability, he set the template for the likes of Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde to follow.
After finishing 10th at the Tokyo Olympics, Mola took a brief hiatus from the sport as he became a father. Since his return, he won a silver medal at the Valencia World Cup, confirming that the running of old is still there.
However, in his four WTCS appearances, he did not finish twice and had a best result of 31st.
In 2019, Mola won four WTCS medals (one gold and three silver) so the question is whether he can return to that level, or even his world championship winning form.
Right now it seems like, at least over the Olympic distance, he will be penalised for his swim. He only raced the Sprint distance twice in 2022; in his first race back in Hamburg, which may have been a shock to the system after a year away, and then in Valencia where he was great.
If a breakaway does not stick over the Sprint distance, Mola will be a threat for the podium. Likewise, if his swim has returned this winter to its 2016-2019 level, then he should have fewer issues over the Olympic distance.
For now, we think it is safer to categorise Mola as a little more of a Sprint specialist like Hidalgo. The difference between the two is that Mola’s track record is so much more substantial and he won a silver World Cup medal against Hidalgo’s bronze medal in 2022.
19) Marten Van Riel BEL
Marten Van Riel was great in 2021 however injury wiped out his 2022.
After winning bronze at WTCS Leeds and silver at WTCS Edmonton in 2021, he seemed primed to have a big year last year. Unfortunately, a bout of COVID after WTCS Montreal (2022) set him back, then he suffered an oedema in his ankle which put an end to his season.
Going by 2021 form, Van Riel would be looking at breaking into the top-5 in this list. Prior to his injury, though, his 2022 form had not yet matched the highs of 2021.
12th place finishes in Yokohama and Leeds were followed by a 9th in Montreal, so he was heading in the right direction. Even without finishing the season, he still finished 30th in the overall Series. However, he was operating at a shade below his previous form.
With his injury, it is hard to say for sure when he will be back to racing at his peak condition. Our hope is that he has been able to finally have some good luck and put the injury behind him. We think Van Riel will get back to his best and we hope it happens soon.
However even then there will be an adjustment phase with his return to racing.
As a result, it would be a bit much to expect Van Riel to instantly return to the medals. It is not impossible, however to keep the outlook a little more balanced, we have ranked him 19th and behind several names that have won WTCS medals more recently.
