Category: Races

It has been a busy few weeks of triathlon in China. After the Chengdu World Cup took place in late April, the Asia Cup in Taizhou followed in May. Then, at the weekend, another Asia Cup event followed in the country, this time in Lianyungang. Seeing as China will also be hosting a WTCS stop later in the year, after the reclassification of the Weihai World Cup, the country is clearly making moves in the sport. In Lianyungang, the home team set out to make a statement at the Olympic…

Going into the men’s race at the Huatulco World Cup, the most important athlete from a Dutch perspective was Mitch Kolkman. As Kolkman stepped onto the start line, he held an Olympic qualification ranking of 146th. After the antics of the Dutch Mixed Team Relay on Friday, in which they secured Olympic qualification by finishing 2nd in Huatulco, Kolkman needed break into the top-140. Failure to do so would mean the Dutch team would have to decline the Olympic relay spot they had worked so hard to secure. When the…

As darkness took hold in Huatulco, it took a frantic finish to the women’s World Cup to light up the Mexican resort. At every step of the way, the race stubbornly refused to break up, as if the heat and humidity had glued everything together. Zsanett Kuttor-Bragmayer, Sophia Howell and Karolina Helga Horváth jostled for the lead in the wavy 750m swim and each completed the segment in 10:34. A large group of women were close on their heels, including Lotte Miller, who secured Olympic qualification in the Mixed Team…

After Lena Meißner won the women’s race at the inaugural Samarkand World Cup, a cluster of men ran out of T2 with a maiden win of their own dangling before them. The most recent World Cup winner in the field, David Cantero del Campo, had been consigned to the chase pack and was over 2 minutes behind. While the Spanish athlete’s running prowess still made him a threat, it seemed almost certain that the gold medal would go to one of the eight men in the breakaway. However, given the…

After the drama of the Olympic Mixed Team Relay qualifier in Huatulco yesterday, the action zipped back across to the other side of the world as Samarkand, Uzbekistan, hosted a World Cup for the first time. It was to prove a day of multiple firsts as Lena Meißner of Germany claimed a maiden World Cup win to put an end to a year of injury-hit turbulence. As was the case as the Chengdu World Cup, Therese Feuersinger was the fastest swimmer. She led into T1 in a time of 19:36.…

If the final two Olympic Mixed Team Relay slots were allocated on the basis of the teams’ walk outs in Huatulco, Ecuador would be going to Paris. Alas, there is no justice in the world. As the racing in Huatulco swung back and forth, there was also a chance that Canada would end the day aggrieved by an even greater sense of injustice. In the end, though, the threat of the slots being decided away from the race course fizzled out. The male athletes on the opening leg took on…

One the biggest recent stories in triathlon has been the development of Tilda Månsson. Already known as a spectacular runner after winning World Cups in 2022 and 2023 and breaking Swedish Junior records on the track, she has added new strings to her bow of late. A win at the Wollongong World Cup in April followed her usual template of sprinting to victory. Of greater interest was what came next. At the Chengdu World Cup, Månsson had the best swim of her Senior career and then rode as part of…

The second event in the World Cup double header this weekend, Samarkand will a new stop on the circuit. Uzbekistan has never hosted a World Cup before and so the race will be unchartered territory for everyone involved. Heading into the event, though, one thing that seems likely is that the race will come down to a fight between the breakaway and World Cup winner David Cantero del Campo. Cantero is the fastest runner in the field. We can assert this because, in addition to having raced internationally on the…

The men’s race at the 2024 Huatulco World Cup promises to come down to yet another barnstorming finish. Notwithstanding the power of the likes of Casper Stornes and Tjebbe Kaindl on the bike, the race will probably hold true to past form and yield a final sprint finish with the medallists separated by seconds. Should a sprint be on the cards, the man that has already triumphed in Huatulco will be licking his lips. Genis Grau of Spain won the race in 2022, a result that stands as his sole…

This weekend sees a double header of World Cup racing in Huatulco and Samarkand. As the final World Cup events of the Olympic qualification window, there will be plenty on the line. One athlete in Huatulco, though, faces a unique challenge. Anahi Alvarez Corral will look to defend her World Cup win from 2023 on home soil. Last year, Alvarez claimed victory on the back of a storming run split, demonstrating a level of speed that even Gwen Jorgensen simply could not live with. Her challenge will be to repeat…