The World U23 Championships are a big stepping stone in any up-and-coming athlete’s career and this year’s edition in Pontevedra promises to be an intense affair.
All three men’s medallists from 2022 return while a number of high finishers from last year’s women’s race are set to start. Several athletes arrive with Continental Cup wins to their name. Others arrive having made their WTCS debuts in 2023. Plenty of those scheduled to start, though, have offered a clear indication that they will be able to compete for a medal.
When the gun goes off in Pontevedra, then, the winner will be anyone’s guess.
Who’s there?
Connor Bentley, the reigning World U23 champion, headlines the field and will lead the British team. Earlier in the year, he claimed consecutive European Cup wins and so has kept his winning habit alive. Racing alongside Bentley will be Hamish Reilly, the bronze medallist from last year’s event.
Daniel Dixon and Sam Hart then complete the British men’s team.
Gergely Kiss returns to defend his silver medal from 2022. Kiss has found opportunities to race at the world level hard to come by at times this year, such is the depth of the Hungarian team. Having won a medal last year, though, he will be in the hunt for gold this time around. Gergő Dobi and Zsombor Dévay will also be racing for Hungary.
Simon Henseleit will lead the German team. However, a broken toe suffered at the Paris Olympic Test Event throws his participation into doubt. He should be able to recover in time, although any delays could stop him from starting. Last year, Henseleit was a late withdrawal from the World U23 Championships after injury struck. Thus to miss out again would be particularly unfortunate.
Henry Graf and Jonas Osterholt will also race for Germany.
Yanis Seguin and Baptiste Passemard will be representating France in the men’s race. Seguin sealed his qualification with an impressive 4th place at the European Games earlier in the summer.
The home Spanish team will call upon David Cantero del Campo and Esteban Basanta Fouz while Italy will be sending Alessio Crociani and Nicolo Strada. Any of those four could push for a medal on their day. Whereas the Spanish duo lean a little more towards the run, the Italian pair are stronger in the water so it will be fascinating to see how the race unfolds.
Zach Leachman leads an American team after an exceptional summer in which he recorded multiple Americas Cup wins. With form behind him and armed with a serious kick on the run, he will be a real danger to the podium. Andrew Shellenberger, John Reed and Nicholas Holmes are due to start alongside him for Team USA.
Saxon Morgan and Lachlan Haycock will be two to watch from New Zealand while their Antidopean rivals, Australia, will be sending Oscar Dart, Lachlan Jones and Bradley Course.
Panagiotis Bitados has bounced into international contention this season. He will be the only man starting for Greece but after a series of successful races, including Continental Cup medals, he could push for a high finish.
Mitch Kolkman has become something of a relay specialist for the Netherlands of late, dropping a number of eye-catching splits. In Pontevedra he will get the chance to show off his individual credentials. He will be the only man from his country starting.
The only man starting for Norway will be Sebastian Wernersen. Wernersen put in an impressive turn at the European Super Sprint Championships and has the power on the bike to shake up the race.
Meanwhile, the German duo of Tanja Neubert and Selina Klamt are among the early favourites for the women’s race.
After finishing 5th at the race last year, Neubert has really kicked on this season. She finished 4th at the European Championships, won an African Cup and a European Cup, and recently took bronze at the European U23 Championships.
Klamt finished 4th at the World U23 Championships last year and is the highest finisher to return. She won the European U23 title, has claimed multiple European Cup wins, and finished 4th at the European Games.
Costanza Arpinelli will lead the Italian women and will look to improve upon her 6th place from last year. She will be joined by Beatrice Mallozzi and Angelica Prestia. Prestia recently finished 4th at the Tiszaujvaros World Cup so could end up as the best Italian performer.
Jessica Fullagar returns after finishing 7th last year. Her performance, though, went beyond the final result. The Brit was integral to Kate Waugh’s victory and played a major role in ensuring their breakaway on the bike stuck. This season Fullagar has shown her strength on the bike at multiple outings and will need to watched carefully by her rivals.
Daisy Davies also returns after finishing 8th last year. Tilly Anema and Sophia Green then complete the British women’s team.
Anahi Alvarez Corral leads a rapid Mexican quartet and is joined by Cecilia Sayuri Ramirez Alavez, Mercedes Romero Orozco and Sofia Rodriguez Moreno. All four have speed to burn and could challenge for the medals in the right race setting.
Australia likewise have a deep team. Tara Sosinski took a stunning Asia Cup win earlier in the year while Charlotte Derbyshire is the Oceania U23 champion. Ellie Hoitink and Jessia Ewart-McTigue are also slated to start and both have claimed Continental Cup medals this season.
After a run of WTCS personal best finishes, Cathia Schär will be racing at the World U23 Championships instead of the WTCS Final. She won the bronze medal at the European Championships and so will likely be a force in Pontevedra. Nora Gmür will be joining her on the Swiss team.
Spain will be represented by Natalie Castro Santos, Maria Casals Mojica and Iratxe Arenal Arribas while Brea Roderick heads up a New Zealand trio that also contains Hannah Knighton and Hannah Howell.
Margareta Bicanova and Zuzana Michalickova will race for Slovakia and Barbara De Koning and Marit Van Den Berg will start for the Netherlands.
Maria Tomé (Portugal) and Carina Reicht (Austria) are among those scheduled to be the only participants for their respective country.
Main talking points
Juniors stepping up
Several athletes that raced at the World Junior Championships in Hamburg will be doubling up and shall take on the U23 race in Pontevedra.
Bradley Course booked his place on the start list by winning the Oceania Championships (Senior and U23) in Port Douglas earlier in the year. In Hamburg, he ended up in 14th place. Given his form in Senior races in 2023, it would be no surprise to see him finish inside the top-10 in Pontevedra.
Of the athletes that raced in Hamburg to start in Pontevedra, Dominga Elena Jacome Espinoza had the highest finish. Jacome finished 6th at the World Junior Championships and was not far away from a medal. Her compatriot, Andree Buc, took 11th place in the Junior men’s race.
Faith Dasso is the fourth and final athlete to double up at the championships. She finished 13th in Hamburg. Dasso also raced at the World U23 Championships last year (finishing 29th) and so is already very experienced in championship racing.
While it would be no surprise for any of the Juniors to pop off a big performance, Dasso could be the athlete to watch.
The World Cup winner
Anahi Alvarez Corral is the only athlete starting with a World Cup win to their name. In addition, she is realistically the best runner in the field.
At last year’s event, she clocked the fastest split of the field by a long way. Indeed, she almost out-split almost the entire women’s WTCS Final. However, her swim saw her lose too much ground early in the race which put her out of contention.
Since then, she has worked on her swim, although it still remains a vulnerability. When the race unfolds her way, she can be devastating. Her win at the Huatulco World Cup was proof of that as she monstered athletes such as Katie Zaferes and Gwen Jorgensen on the run.
At the same time, she can still be vulnerable. At the Yeongdo World Cup, she slipped out of contention early once more.
Alvarez also won a silver medal at the Valencia World Cup in 2022 so has raced well in Spain before. Such is her advantage on the run, she could possibly give up a minute to a breakaway and still run through to win. As a result, Alvarez could win the race as easily as she could lose it.
WTCS Debutants
In total, nine athletes will be starting that have made their WTCS debuts in 2023.
The best WTCS debut came from Selina Klamt who finished 29th at her home race in Hamburg. As already mentioned, Klamt has enjoyed an exceptional year and will be a tough opponent to overcome in Pontevedra.
Costanza Arpinelli finished 31st on her WTCS debut in Montreal. Her compatriot, Nicolo Strada, matched that result with his 31st place in Cagliari.
Brea Roderick was close behind Arpinelli in Montreal; she finished 34th. Since then, the New Zealander has continued to improve and most recently broke into the top-30 at the Paris Test Event.
Maria Casals Mojica made her debut in Sunderland, finishing 41st, while Connor Bentley claimed 42nd place on debut in Hamburg. Hannah Newman and Clara Carlquist also made their debuts in Hamburg; they came away with 51st place andf 56th place, respectively.
Finally, Cecilia Sayuri Ramirez Alavez finished 57th on debut in Abu Dhabi.
With each of the nine athletes having cut their teeth against the best in the world, it remains to be seen how they call upon the experience in Pontevedra. Based on their WTCS performances, the likes of Klamt, Strada, Arpinelli and Roderick could be in line to produce some big showings.
You can view the full start lists here.
