Category: WTCS

It was like the whole men’s race at WTCS Cagliari was a countdown to something special. A delayed start due to weather built the anticipation as another showdown between Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde brewed. A year ago the two men were separated by seconds after a back-and-forth fight on the run but today’s race conspired to make this edition the closest yet. In the opening stages, it seemed Morgan Pearson was primed to play spoiler to the Yee-Wilde narrative. The victor at WTCS Yokohama navigated the waves the best…

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The 2024 season has already taken a decidedly French hue. Amid a barnstorming race that was only settled in the final moments, Cassandre Beaugrand powered to the gold medal. Not only was it a second win from two for the French women in this season’s WTCS, it marked Beaugrand’s first ever Olympic distance win in the Series. Looking ahead to the home Paris Olympics, Beaugrand and the French team could hardly face a more promising position. Maya Kingma was the top swimmer and emerged from the sea in a time…

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Entering the second round of the 2024 WTCS, the name on everyone’s lips is Morgan Pearson after the American athlete won the Series opener in impressive fashion. As a multiple WTCS medallist beforehand, Pearson’s display was clearly no flash in the pan and he will now try to double his number of gold medals. A 29:11 10km split was perhaps the biggest takeaway from Pearson’s race. That stands as one of the quickest run splits of recent times and also came after he exited T2 slightly down on the leaders.…

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The second stop of the WTCS season is upon us as the action turns to Cagliari. After a spellbinding performance at the season opener in Yokohama, all the attention in the women’s race will be on Leonie Periault. The French athlete was in marvellous form as she claimed a first ever WTCS win in Japan and the ease with which she dispatched the likes of Taylor Knibb, Emma Lombardi and more on the run will have sent a loud warning to the rest of the elite women’s field. Should Periault…

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Despite the absences of Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde, the past two men’s winners of WTCS Yokohama, the early phases of today’s race could have been a carbon copy of the previous two seasons. While the swim was pretty much the same and the bike was almost a perfect repeat of what happened 12 months prior, the biggest difference appeared to be the weather. On the run, however, the fireworks were unleashed. In the first lap of the swim, Márk Dévay and Vincent Luis were reunited at the front of…

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Last season, Cassandre Beaugrand became the first French woman to make it onto the overall women’s podium in the WTCS. After winning two races, she added a bronze medal at the WTCS Final in Pontevedra to take 2nd behind Beth Potter in the standings. Around half a minute later in Pontevedra, Emma Lombardi crossed the line to take 3rd overall in the 2023 Series and hand France another medallist. Entering the Olympic year, there was a risk that Leonie Periault would be a little overlooked on the French team following…

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Looking back to the last Olympic year, in an admittedly pandemic-hit 2021, the first two rounds of the WTCS season were won by first-time winners. Taylor Knibb powered to the gold in Yokohama while Maya Kingma, having medalled in Yokohama, went on to win WTCS Leeds. While the two races are too small a sample size to derive any meaningful conclusions, maybe there is something to the trend of new faces making steps forward in the build-up to the Games. One such athlete that could repeat history at WTCS Yokohama…

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In the absence of Hayden Wilde and Alex Yee, the past two men’s winners of WTCS Yokohama, this weekend’s race in Japan will see a different man step onto the top of the podium. Wilde and Yee opted to instead race at the French Grand Prix season opener in Fréjus, with Yee coming out on top. When looking at the potential candidates to succeed the Yee-Wilde axis in Yokohama, the natural place to start is with the most recent winner of a WTCS race. The men’s world champion, Dorian Coninx,…

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