Category: News

2024 Bundesliga Season Launches in Kraichgau This Weekend

Benjamin Eastman

This weekend the Bundesliga season will kick off in the familiar location of Kraichgau. Unlike last season, in which the funky 2+2 format was on offer as the teams tackle the “2+2 format“, this edition of the race will be a normal Sprint distance affair with an 800m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. Although several top names will instead race at WTCS Cagliari, a good start list has been attracted. On paper, there is no overwhelming favourite on the team front in the women’s race, although there are several…

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Taylor Knibb Qualifies For Second Olympic Sport In Paris

Benjamin Eastman

Last summer, heads were turned as WTCS race winner Taylor Knibb took on the US National Time Trial Championships and managed to finish 4th. All of a sudden, Knibb seemed a legitimate contender to qualify for the American team in the time trial at the Paris Olympics and the prospect of a triathlete competing at a second sport in the same Games became very much real. Earlier this week Knibb turned the prospect into a reality. The American athlete flew directly from WTCS Yokohama, where she won the silver medal,…

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World Champion Dorian Coninx Suffers Fractures In Crash

Benjamin Eastman

The defending men’s world champion Dorian Coninx has been dealt a blow in his build-up to a home Olympic Games. The French athlete was one of several athletes to be caught up in a crash during the final bike lap at WTCS Yokohama. Coninx did not immediately get up after falling from his bike which offered an early indication that something was amiss. In the days since, the extent of the damage has been revealed. Coninx has suffered a fractured wrist and elbow and surgery was quickly scheduled. As things…

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Hayden Wilde Fires Off 5000m Personal Best

Benjamin Eastman

Earlier in the week, Hayden Wilde fired a warning shot ahead of the Paris Olympic Games as he clocked a 5000m personal best. Running on the track in Huelva, Spain, Wilde stopped the clock at 13:23.91. In doing so, he lowered his previous best time of 13:29.47 from 2021 by over 5 seconds. Notably, his new best is not too far away from the Olympic qualifying time of 13:05. For an athlete juggling three sports, it represents quite the turn of speed. Wilde had already demonstrated his form earlier in…

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French Grand Prix Season Kicks Off In Fréjus This Weekend

Benjamin Eastman

The French Grand Prix is back and it will start with a bang. The opening stage of the series takes place in its customary slot in Fréjus this weekend and it will offer the first clash of 2024 between two of the favourites for Olympic gold this summer. The season will then continue in Metz and Bordeaux in June before concluding in September with stops in Quiberon and Saint-Jean-des-Monts. As is the norm in the series, the racing will be a Sprint distance affair. Kicking things off is a one-lap…

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Flora Duffy To Make First WTCS Start In 18 Months

Benjamin Eastman

Flora Duffy has been added to the start list for WTCS Yokohama. After uncertainty over her WTCS comeback, the defending Olympic champion will be making her first start in the Series in 18 months. In a shift from previous false dawns in 2023, Duffy was not originally on the start lists for Yokohama. Whereas last year, for example at the Paris Test Event, Duffy entered races and then withdrew, in Yokohama she has been a later addition. Considering that she has been added to the start list less than a…

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The Youth and Senior Standouts at the British 2024 Tests

Benjamin Eastman

Running in parallel to the British Junior performance assessments were tests for both the country’s top Youth prospects and Senior athletes looking to put their names forward for international selection later in 2024. The Senior tests were the same as those undertaken by the Juniors, with an 800m swim on the Saturday preceding a 20km bike into a 5km run on the Sunday. For the Youth athletes, the test was half the distance and consisted of a 400m swim on the Saturday and then a 10km bike into a 2.5km…

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Reckmann and Krumbeck Win German Junior Tests

Benjamin Eastman

On the same weekend Britain’s leading Junior triathletes were put through their paces, Germany’s top young talents were likewise tested at the DTU Junior Cup in Halle (Saale). The German model mostly matched the British approach in terms of layout. An 800m swim kicked things off on the Saturday (although the German test was long course while the British test was short course). The test then concluded on the Sunday with a bike-run of 21km and 5km. The cycling component was run in a time trial format with the athletes…

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Pye and Breese Win British Junior Performance Tests

Benjamin Eastman

After the French Junior tests took place last month, it was the turn of Britain at the weekend. The assessments include an 800m time trial in the pool (25m) on Saturday at the University of Nottingham. The next day, the athletes took on a timed bike-run on the Sunday at Prestwold Hall Circuit. The bike section was draft-legal and started in a stagger with the fastest swimmer going first. Youth and Senior assessments also took place and the highlights will be noted in a separate article. Swims Junior men Pos…

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Potter, Coldwell and more out of WTCS Yokohama

Benjamin Eastman

The first WTCS race of the season has already seen a swathe of changes to the start lists. Among the two biggest recent withdrawals have been those of the defending women’s world champion, Beth Potter, and the winner of last year’s women’s race, Sophie Coldwell. The absence of Hayden Wilde also ensures that the men’s victor from 2023 is likewise absent. With regards to Yokohama, Potter likely came to the same conclusion as her closest rival from 2023, Cassandre Beaugrand. Considering she has Olympic qualification already sewn up and her…

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2024 WTCS Season Revamped As Montreal Cancelled

Benjamin Eastman

Earlier today, World Triathlon confirmed that the 2024 WTCS season will see a series of major changes before it gets under way in Yokohama next month. The first major item is that WTCS Montreal, originally due to take place in September, has been cancelled. Delays in funding approvals for the local organising committee have been raised as a cause of the switch. The cancellation of Montreal is particularly ill-timed as it comes on the back of the abandonment of WTCS Abu Dhabi in March. As such, two of the six…

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First Look at the Huatulco World Cup 2024 Start Lists

Benjamin Eastman

The final World Cups of the Olympic qualification window will take place as a double header in the middle of May. The first of the two races will be the classic stop in Huatulco, Mexico. With its reputation for brutal conditions and a fast Sprint distance course, Huatulco usually offers lively racing. With the close of Olympic qualification likely on the minds of the athletes starting this time, it could throw up some of the tightest finishes of the season. Who’s there? Returning to defend her gold medal from 2023…

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France Favoured To Take The Triathlon Spoils In Paris

Benjamin Eastman

Earlier in the week we put out a poll asking readers to predict which country will win the most medals across the three triathlon events at the Paris Olympics. At this point in the season, the hosts came out as the favourites. France claimed 39% of the vote. Although the WTCS season has not yet started, they have enjoyed outstanding recent success in the Series. France can call upon the last two men’s world champions, Dorian Coninx and Leo Bergere. Both men also made the overall WTCS podium in 2023.…

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First Look at the WTCS Yokohama 2024 Start Lists

Benjamin Eastman

After the WTCS season got off to a false start in Abu Dhabi, the first event of the campaign will take place next month in Yokohama. The race has attracted a star-studded field as plenty of athletes look to kick-start their seasons. With the now-shortened WTCS season, one big performance in Yokohama could create an invaluable advantage in the race to the world title. Moreover, with the race coming a little over two months before the Olympic Games, it will likely be one of the best indicators for who the…

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Paris 2024 President Admits Olympic Swim Could Be Cancelled

Benjamin Eastman

Over the past twelve months, water quality has been a central talking point in the triathlon world. From the European Championships in Madrid to WTCS Sunderland to the Hong Kong World Cup, stories of swim cancellations and athlete sickness have become significant issues. One event, however, stands out above the rest. At last year’s Paris Olympic Test Event, doubts were raised over the safety of the water after the open water swimming test in the Seine was postponed due to safety concerns. The individual triathlon races took place as planned…

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