So… the final men’s WTCS standings look rather different than they did going into Pontevedra.
Having entered the WTCS Final ranked 5th, Dorian Coninx launched himself to 1st place and the world title with a perfectly executed race. His 1250 points for the win helped him to a total of 4238, giving him the title by a handy margin.
Hayden Wilde was one of the few athletes not to change positions. After his up-and-down day in Pontevedra, which included a disappointing swim, a shock penalty and then a huge charge through the field. His ultimate 10th place (after Miguel Hidalgo successfully appealed his disqualification) kept him in 2nd overall with 4061 points.
Leo Bergere then moved up a spot to 3rd overall, putting two French men on the final podium. His 3rd place represents a strong return after winning the title last year.
Bergere finished the season with 4003 points. During the race, he was in the hunt for the win until the very end but could not live with the finishes of Coninx, Tim Hellwig and Pierre Le Corre. He therefore finished 4th and narrowly missed taking down Wilde.
Vasco Vilaca slipped off the overall podium after finishing 15th. The Portuguese athlete finished with 3703 points. He later revealed that his race had been compromised before it started as illness ruined his day. He slumped to 15th and was out of contention. Nevertheless, Vilaca can take heart after an incredible year and will be back in 2024.
Then we come to the former Series leader.
Alex Yee saw his season fall apart before his eyes. Having led into the race, he finished 30th. That represented his worst WTCS finish for quite some time (since his debut season in 2019 to be exact). With a minimal amount added to his total, Yee ended the season with 3629 points.
In 6th place was the born again Pierre Le Corre. Le Corre has had a ridiculous year, full of side quests and a maiden WTCS win. He was also the only man in the top-20 without a full quota of races.
Le Corre ended the year with 3343 points and with one more race he could have made it onto the overall podium. What is most surprising about his success is that, at the start of the year, Le Corre was looking at moving up to the longer distances. That will have to wait for now as he has been in blazing form in 2023. Looking ahead to 2024, the new era of Le Corre might gather even more momentum.
Matthew Hauser came out of Pontevedra in 7th overall. With 3239 points, he was comfortably ahead of those behind.
The next closest man was Tim Hellwig. His silver medal at the WTCS Final bumped him up to 8th overall and left him with 2950 points. Kristian Blummenfelt then followed with 2689 points after finishing 18th. Csongor Lehmann rounded out the top-10 with 2643 points. He almost overtook Blummenfelt but also only just edged out Hidalgo.
Further down the rankings, there were a number of big risers.
Lasse Lührs was one of the most prominent as he climbed 13 places to 13th overall. His 5th place in Pontevedra therefore rendered him the second best German man in the standings. Another German athlete, Lasse Nygaard Priester, made a similar move up the rankings. Having started the day in 56th, he ended it in 32nd after finishing 10th.
Ricardo Batista moved up 14 placed to earn 33rd overall while Gianluca Pozzatti gained 13 places to finish 37th.
Tyler Mislawchuk completed a strong season by finishing 9th in Pontevedra. That saw him climb 7 places to take 12th overall. Tom Richard also rose by 7 places to take 22nd after finishing 12th.
Finally, Luke Willian moved up 8 places to break into the top-50. He ended up ranked 45th at the end of the season.
You can view the final standings here.
