The end is nigh.
Almost six months after the WTCS season kicked off in Abu Dhabi, the Series has reached its final chapter. The Final in Pontevedra awaits where the world champion for 2023 will be decided.
Pontevedra debuted on the World Cup circuit last year and will be making its first appearance in the WTCS in September. Therefore relatively little is known about the course and it could spring a few surprises.
Who’s there?
The current leader of the women’s Series, Cassandre Beaugrand, heads up a familiar French trio. Joining her are Emma Lombardi and Leonie Periault, both of whom have won WTCS medals this year.
Beaugrand’s closest rival in the Series, Beth Potter, will head up a vaunted British team. Sophie Coldwell will be racing alongside her as she seeks to recapture her form from earlier in the season. Kate Waugh will look to build upon an impressive display at the Paris Test Event while Olivia Mathias will gain further experience at the highest level of the sport.
Georgia Taylor-Brown is on the start list although it remains to be seen whether she will race. She suffered a calf tear in July and has been recovering since. She could make it back to race in Pontevedra yet could also opt against racing and instead look ahead to 2024.
Fresh off securing Olympic qualification, Laura Lindemann and Nina Eim will be racing. The German team will also be represented by Lena Meißner, Lisa Terstch and Annika Koch, all of whom have won a WTCS medal.
For the home team, Spain will look for big performances from Miriam Casillas Garcia, Noelia Juan and Sara Guerrero Manso. Casillas’ training partner, Taylor Spivey, will be at the forefront of the American women’s team. Taylor Knibb, Summer Rappaport, Kirsten Kasper and Erica Ackerlund complete the rest of the US line-up.
Belgium will have Jolien Vermeylen, Valerie Bathelemy and Claire Michel racing while Brazil will send Luisa Baptista, Vittoria Lopes and Djenyfer Arnold. Bianca Seregni, Verena Steinhauser and Ilaria Zane comprise the Italian team.
Japan will have a mixture of youth and experience in its team as Yuko Takahashi, Minori Ikeno, Yuka Sato and Niina Kishimoto are due to take part. Australia have a similar team profile with experienced athletes such as Emma Jackson, Natalie Van Coevorden and Charlotte McShane joined by Sophie Linn and Jaz Hedgeland.
Sinem Francisca Tous Servera returns to Spain under Turkish colours to tackle the WTCS Final. Tous will be one of several women to be the sole women racing for their country. Among her fellow solo athletes are Tilda Månsson, Melanie Santos, Julie Derron, Shanae Williams and Solveig Løvseth.
The men’s Series leader, Alex Yee, will be racing. He will be joined by Jonathan Brownlee and Barclay Izzard. Yee’s closest challenger for the title, Hayden Wilde, will be in attendance and will have Tayler Reid and Dylan McCullough alongside him.
The defending world champion, Leo Bergere, will be racing, as will the bronze medallist from the Paris Test Event, Dorian Coninx. Pierre Le Corre and Tom Richard then complete the French team.
Vasco Vilaca, the silver medallist in Paris, will be racing and could consolidate a place on the overall podium. Ricardo Batista, the European Super Sprint champion, and the experienced Joao Pereira will also be racing for Portugal.
Spain have a formidable line up with the European Champion, David Castro Fajardo, leading the way. WTCS medallists Antonio Serrat Seoane and Roberto Sanchez Mantecon will look to make an impact, as will Alberto Gonzalez Garcia.
Perhaps the athlete to keep an eye out for is Sergio Baxter Cabrera; he took the win at the Pontevedra World Cup last year.
Australia have a three man cohort of Matthew Hauser, Luke Willian and Jacob Birtwhistle due to start. Meanwhile, Lasse Lührs, Lasse Nygaard Priester, Jonas Schomburg and Valentin Wernz will join Tim Hellwig in Pontevedra. Hellwig earned Olympic qualification at the Paris Test Event and his teammates will look to match his feat.
Switzerland and Hungary will be sending their classic quartets. For the former, Adrien Briffod, Max Studer, Simon Westermann and Sylvain Fridelance will line up on the pontoon. Csongor Lehmann, Márk Dévay, Bence Bicsák and Gábor Faldum will be racing for the latter.
Kristian Blummenfelt and Vetle Bergsvik Thorn will be racing for Norway while Manoel Messias and Miguel Hidalgo will step up for Brazil. Belgium will have Jelle Geens and Marten Van Riel taking part.
Of the athletes standing as the sole representatives of their country, Shachar Sagiv, Diego Moya, Richard Murray, Irving Perez and Jawad Abdelmoula are among the names that stand out.
Who’s not there?
All of the top-45 men in the WTCS rankings will be starting in Pontevedra.
Johannes Vogel is the highest ranked man not on the start list; he currently sits in 46th. To a degree, he has been penalised by Germany’s depth and is the first man on wait list, although Germany’s quota is currently full.
On the women’s side, Katie Zaferes (17th in WTCS) is the highest ranked woman not racing. Cathia Schär (ranked 18th) will also be absent (she will race the World U23 Championships instead), as will Marlene Gomez-Göggel who is in 20th. Like Vogel, Gomez-Göggel suffers from German depth and is the first woman on the wait list thanks to her world ranking.
Alice Betto is currently due to miss out after finishing 13th at the Paris Test Event. The defending world champion Flora Duffy is also out, although this comes as no surprise after not racing all year. In her place, Erica Hawley will race for Bermuda after claiming maiden World Cup medal in Yeongdo.
Vincent Luis’ torn soleus means he will not be racing.
Finally, Gustav Iden is on the wait list. One thing to note, though, is that he might not get to race even the chance arises. He is ahead of Casper Stornes on wait list however Norway put Stornes ahead of Iden at the Paris Test Event. Should the same happen in Pontevedra, Iden may be left out in the cold.
Main talking points
All eyes on the world title
As things stand, Alex Yee is 57 points ahead of Hayden Wilde in the men’s Series. Whoever crosses the line first of the pair in Pontevedra will likely win the world title. Should both finish outside the medals, someone like Vasco Vilaca could swoop in to win the championship. Realistically, though, the title will come down to Yee and Wilde.
It is a similar story in the women’s Series.
Cassandre Beaugrand leads Beth Potter by 32 points. Whoever beats the other at the Final, then, should become world champion. As Emma Lombardi is further away from the leaders in 3rd place than Vilaca is in the men’s field, it is less likely that someone other than Beaugrand or Potter wins the title.
As Yee and Potter won the Paris Test Event, there is every chance that they enter 2024 as the winners of the Test and as world champions which would make them favourites for Olympic gold.
Second Olympic shots
After her win at the Paris Test Event, Potter can secure her place on the British Olympic team by earning a medal in Pontevedra. Similarly, after their performances in Paris, Emma Lombardi, Leo Begere and Pierre Le Corre can put themselves provisionally on the French Olympic team with a medal.
For several other countries, Pontevedra will serve as a standalone selection race.
Matthew Hauser will get his chance to qualify for Australia after missing the Test Event through a COVID positive test. He will need a top-8 finish to confirm his place on the Olympic team.
German athletes will also require a top-8 finish to qualify. However, after Lindemann, Eim and Hellwig booked their spots in Paris, places are running out.
Several other countries, such as Switzerland and New Zealand require top-8 finishes at WTCS races to boost chances of selection. While the Final is not treated differently, a top-8 would nonetheless be a very helpful result for several athletes.
If any American athletes are to join Taylor Knibb and Morgan Pearson on the Olympic team, they will need a medal in Pontevedra.
Koch gets her chance
Annika Koch did not get on the start line at Paris Test Event despite arguably being the form German woman.
Having earned a personal best WTCS finish of 4th in Hamburg, she followed it up with a bronze medal at WTCS Sunderland. At her next outing, she won the Yeongdo World Cup. Koch’s summer form, then, has been fantastic.
Assuming no one beats her from the German team, a top-8 finish will make her the third and final woman to qualify for the Olympic Games. Her recent form suggests it is within her capabilities. The challenge now will be to make it a reality.
Tom Richard into the Final
Last year, Tom Richard was not selected to race in the WTCS Final in Abu Dhabi for France. This was despite him earning three top-10 finishes in the WTCS. He also ranked 16th going into the Final last season but was unable to defend his position.
This year, however, he will get his chance.
Richard has never actually raced at a WTCS Final (not including World U23 Championships) and so Pontevedra will be a major milestone in his career. At this point, he is ranked 29th in the Series. With a big result, though, he could surpass his result from 2022 and lock in a place as part of the top-20 triathletes in the world.
You can view the full start lists here.
