Toby Powers (AUS)
Powers is the silver medallist from last year’s World Junior Championships and also took silver at the Oceania Junior Championships in 2022. The first thing that jumps out from that is that he is a good racer that can find his way to the podium at championship events.
2022 was also the first time he raced internationally, which would suggest a lack of experience.
Despite that, Powers had a strong year and added a bronze at the European Junior Cup in Tabor to his medal collection. Moreover, in his first Senior race, an Oceania Cup in Gold Coast, he finished 22nd.
In the next few weeks, he will be racing again in a Senior race as he is on the start list for the Oceania Cup in Wanaka.
Powers’s strongest discipline is his run and he seems to fit the mould of someone like Jacob Birtwhistle. His swim may need some attention in the coming years, however with his run speed he should develop into a contender in the U23 ranks.
How he handles the step up to the Olympic distance will also likely shape his fortunes this year.
David Cantero Del Campo (ESP)
Where do these Spanish triathletes keep coming from?
Based on his short career thus far, Cantero Del Campo could be something special. He has four European Junior Cup wins to his name. Two came in 2021 (in Banyoles and in Riga) and he added two more in 2022 (in Mellila and Quarteira).
As was the case with Moragas Molina in the women’s five to watch, the Quarteira win might just be the pick of the bunch.
Cantero del Campo only managed 40th at the World Junior Championships 2021 (he did not race them in 2022) and 31st at European Junior Championships 2022. Such results speak to the inconsistency of youth.
However, in 2021 he was a silver medallist at the European Junior Athletics Championships in the 5000m. That result marks him out as probably the best runner in his cohort. Indeed, that quite possibly elevates his running beyond a significant chunk of the current men’s WTCS field.
He won the Asia Cup in Samarkand. Admittedly, it was not the deepest field in the world. However, the race was over the Olympic distance so it is already rare for a Junior to possess that kind of strength. In addition, in Samarkand he beat WTCS athletes like Felix Duchampt, Gregor Payet and Bob Haller. Duchampt is a particularly impressive scalp given he is a four-time World Cup medallist
To cap of the year, Cantero Del Campo finished 13th at the Vina del Mar World Cup.
Going by his run speed, Senior experience and wins, Cantero del Campo is possibly the most fully-formed Junior man we have seen come through for a few years. Unlike Powers, there isn’t really a question mark over his ability to handle the Olympic distance. It would therefore not be unreasonable to expect to see him contend for medals at European Cups and the World U23 Championships in 2023.
Léo Fernandez (FRA)
Fernandez was the European Junior Champion in 2022. He did not finish at the World Junior Championships last year however he earned a silver medal behind Cantero del Campo at the European Junior Cup in Quarteira.
Towards the end of 2022, he made his first Senior appearances in a European Cup and an African Cup. In the former, he managed a 40th place finish in Alhandra. Not long after, though, he finished 8th at the African Cup in Tangier.
As seems to be the standard among the French men, Fernandez is a good swimmer and rides well on the bike. Indeed he is a well-rounded athlete which is not always common at the Junior level.
At this point, he does not have the most extensive race CV in the world and his European Junior title does a lot of the lifting. Nevertheless, he is a prospect and will be one to watch in 2023.
Artūrs Liepa (LAT)
Liepa has three European Junior Cup wins to his name. The first came in Dnipro in 2021 and he added the next two in 2022 (in Yenisehir and Panevezys).
Last year, he added finishes of 11th at the European Junior Championships and 23rd at the World Junior Championships to his name. Later in the year, he also raced the World U23 Championships in Abu Dhabi and the Senior European Championships in Munich.
Neither race quite turned out as he hoped and he finished down the field. However, the experience will be important as he leaves the Junior ranks. It is uncommon for Juniors to race internationally over the Olympic distance, let alone against fields as strong as a Senior European Championships.
Coming from a swimming background, Liepa is generally towards the front of races in T1. Going forward, that may be something to work on in order to develop it into an even bigger strength. Looking at how the men’s race is evolving at the WTCS level, the swim may be becoming even more important so it will be key for Liepa to get that right.
Ben Cumberland (GBR)
The final athlete on our list will be carrying the torch for a long legacy of British success.
Ben Cumberland finished 4th at the European Junior Championships in 2022 and also won a European Junior Cup in Bled. As the British Junior champion from 2021, he is on balance the best young British triathlete coming through.
The key with Cumberland is that he will benefit from the British system. At this point, there is so much institutional knowledge of how to develop winning triathletes at British Triathlon. One only has to look at the performances of Kate Waugh, Connor Bentley and Hamish Reilly at last year’s U23 World Championships to know Cumberland will be handled carefully and in a way that will maximise his medal chances at the U23 level.
He is a very balanced athlete with no glaring weakness. His run is realistically his strength right now and, although it is not at the standard of Cantero del Campo’s, it will set him up well for the U23 level. One thing that stands out with his running are 800m and 1500m track times of 2:00.70 and 4:06.80. That suggests he has a burst of speed that will be very valuable towards the end of races.
Given he has already been able to utilise his speed to good effect in Bled, it would not be a surprise for Cumberland to repeat that in the coming years.
If he can marry the strength he will require going forward with retaining and even improving his current speed, he will certainly be one to watch.
