Earlier this week, we put out a poll asking who you think will win the women’s WTCS in 2023.
Prior to the poll, we wrote about the four favourites for the new season and suggested that any one of several women could take the world title. In the end, though, the votes consolidated around the leading duo of the past few years.
The results
- Flora Duffy – 32%
- Georgia Taylor Brown – 34%
- Taylor Knibb – 6%
- Cassandre Beaugrand – 13%
- Someone else – 15%
Georgia Taylor-Brown narrowly led the votes with Flora Duffy close behind. They have occupied the top-2 positions at essentially every major race of the past two years. Moreover, prior to that, Taylor-Brown was world champion in 2020 while Duffy took the world titles in 2016 and 2017.
Cassandre Beaugrand took a solid 13% share of the vote. As the winner of WTCS Leeds in 2022, she is the only athlete to have beaten both Duffy and Taylor-Brown at the same race since the Tokyo Olympics.
Meanwhile, Taylor Knibb took the smallest portion. With her cycling ability, though, she will be one to watch throughout the year.
The “Someone else” category took a smaller share than was seen in the equivalent men’s poll. Athletes such as Katie Zaferes and Leonie Periault are among those that weren’t listed that have a shot at the world title.
In contrast to the men’s poll, there was a clear duopoly in the women’s field. Between them, Duffy and Taylor-Brown swept up two-thirds of the votes, highlighting how the season can be expected to come down to a clash between the pair.
