In a shift from its autumn slot in 2023, the Chengdu World Cup will take place next month in April. Upon taking a first glance at the start lists, it soon becomes clear that the event has a very similar story to the Wollongong World Cup a week prior. Plenty of athletes will be racing with Olympic qualification in mind and points-hunting will be at a premium. Given the turnaround between Wollongong and Chengdu, it makes sense that much of the field is the same.
However, the same outcome might not necessarily arise. Chengdu will offer an Olympic distance event – the first on the World Cup circuit in 2024 – and will be a real test of the athletes early in the season.
Who’s there?
France are sending a strong team to Chengdu. Valentin Morlec, Maxime Hueber Moosbrugger and Yanis Seguin are slated to start and each can be expected to attend. The past two world champions, Dorian Coninx and Leo Bergere, were originally due to take to the start line. However, they have been withdrawn (as both will likely prioritise the WTCS) and Baptiste Passemard will race instead.
Hungary will also be sending a larger team. Bence Bicsák and Gábor Faldum will be racing while there will also be two Dévays on the start line; both Márk and Zsombor are due to participate.
Lasse Nygaard Priester will be up against Jonas Schomburg as they continue their tussle to qualify for the German Olympic team. Max Studer and Simon Westermann will race for Switzerland while Austria will be represented by Leon Pauger and Tjebbe Kaindl.
From the Americas, team USA will hope for big results from Seth Rider and John Reed. Ecuador will have three starters and will try to keep their New Flag hopes alive through Juan Jose Andrade Figueroa, Gabriel Terán Carvajal and Ramón Armando Matute. Being the highest ranked man from Ecuador, Terán could be the key player in this regard.
Rodrigo Gonzalez and Crisanto Grajales are two further prominent names to start from the Americas (representing Mexico). Elsewhere, Kurt Wesley and Christopher Deegan will take their chance for Australia.
Michele Sarzilla, Vitali Vornotsov, Tyler Smith, Gaspar Riveros, Arnaud Mengal and Emil Holm are part of the group of men to be the only male starters from their country. Junjie Fan is also part of this group and will be the only male starter for the hosts, China.
On the women’s side, China will have a much larger team. Xinyu Lin leads the way as she seeks her first ever World Cup medal. Having already logged top-5 finishes at the World Cup level, it may come sooner rather than later. Yifan Yang, Wen Wei, Siyi Zhang, Xinying Yu, Maiye Mai and Siyu Wang then complete the Chinese team.
Germany will be represented by the current World U23 champion and a former World Junior champion, respectively, in Selina Klamt and Jule Behrens.
Italy, Hungary and Japan will each send four women to Chengdu. Bianca Seregni will look to defend her gold medal from 2023 and will be joined by Alice Betto, Ilaria Zane and Sharon Spimi on the Italian team. Zsanett Kuttor-Bragmayer, Karolina Helga Horváth, Márta Kropkó and Zsófia Kovács will be starting for Hungary. Juri Ide, Yuka Sato, Sarika Nakayama and Hiraku Fukuoka will be racing for Japan.
Cananda (Amelie Kretz, Dominika Jamnicky and Sophie Howell), Slovakia (Ivana Kuriackova, Zuzana Michalickova and Romana Gajdošová) and Austria (Lisa Perterer, Tanja Stroschneider and Julia Hauser) will each have teams consisting of three women.
Meanwhile, Roksana Slupek and Paulina Klimas will race for Poland and Mercedes Romero Orozco and Sofia Rodriguez Moreno will race for Mexico.
Zoe Clarke, Erica Ackerlund, Sinem Francisca Tous Servera, Tilda Månsson and Erica Hawley are some of the solo female racers from their country. One final name to watch in this group is Sian Rainsley. She will be the only female athlete to start for Britain and will look to build upon her victory at the Hong Kong World Cup.
Main talking points
Studer in China
One name to watch will be Max Studer, who will be making his first start of the season. In recent times, he has become a regular in the top-10 at the WTCS level and so will be among the favourites to take the win.
Several Swiss athletes currently train under the tutelage of Brett Sutton, such as Julie Derron, who will also be racing in Chengdu. Moreover, Sutton has also been working with Chinese triathlon team. Given the Swiss-Sutton connections, it is no major surprise that Studer has plumped for Chengdu over alternative events.
Studer also won the Asia Cup in Dexing at a similar time last season and so has prior success in China to call upon.
Spanish armada
In the final stretch of the Olympic qualification period, Spain have one objective: to secure a third male slot at the Paris Olympics. While Antonio Serrat Seoane and Roberto Sanchez Mantecon are entrenched in the top-30 of the Olympic qualification rankings, Spain will need one further man to remain inside the top-30.
Step forward Alberto Gonzalez Garcia. Gonzalez claimed a first World Cup win in Hong Kong after medalling in Napier. As a result, he has moved into the top-30. He will be starting in Chengdu and will hope that he can carry his form forwards to further develop his ranking.
Joining him will be three further Spanish World Cup winners. David Cantero del Campo, David Castro Fajardo and Sergio Baxter Cabrera have each won a World Cup since the summer of 2022 and could push for a spot in the top-30 themselves.
Getting a third male slot will be key for Spain but each of the four starters in Chengdu know that they could be the ones to benefit from it should they put their best foot forwards.
After three Spanish men made the top-5 in Hong Kong, look for the armada to show up once more in Chengdu.
UPDATE: this point has been rendered moot by the withdrawals of Gonzalez, Baxter and Cantero. Only Castro is now due to race.
Edgar vs Duchampt
At this moment in time, Felix Duchampt appears to have a vice grip on the European male New Flag slot. One man that could thwart him, though, is James Edgar. The Irishman has already won an Americas Cup this season (as has Duchampt) and, when looking at the world rankings, can see his Romanian rival in the distance.
A couple of big World Cup performances could swing the New Flag conversation in a radically different direction and both men will be acutely aware of the fact.
In Chengdu, one of Edgar or Duchampt could strike a blow against the other. Thereafter, only a month will remain of the Olympic qualification window and things could get very close indeed.
You can view the full start lists here.
