After the drama of the women’s race at WTCS Abu Dhabi yesterday, there was an element of doubt as to whether the men’s race would match it.
Strap yourself in. The men gave us what might have been the best finale in WTCS history.
From the start, all eyes were on Hayden Wilde and Alex Yee, first and second in the Series respectively. Yee trailed Wilde by 118 points and had to finish at least one place ahead of his rival from New Zealand to take the title.
Neither of the two are renowned swimmers and in the first lap of the swim the pace was pushed by Mark Devay, Vincent Luis, Takumi Hojo, Henri Schoeman and David Castro. Over the second lap, Luis wrestled with Devay for the lead, while Hojo was as focused on the feet in front of him as a Quentin Tarantino movie.
The pace accelerated over the second lap and the field stretched. However few, if any, gaps really appeared.
Of the big names, Léo Bergere was 15th out of the water, 17 seconds down on the lead. Wilde was 18th, 23 seconds down, while Yee was 40th, 41 seconds down. A 14 man group escaped during the first lap of the bike, including Bergere. Wilde dangled perilously off the back but was not quite able to make the connection.
By the end of the first lap of nine, the pack had been slimmed to 9 men. Headed up by Bergere, the lead pack also included Brownlee, Devay, McQueen, Le Corre, Rider, Luis, Reid and Schoeman.
A main group containing Blummenfelt, Yee and Wilde were 30 seconds back.
With Luis for company, thoughts immediately turned to a replay of WTCS Leeds this year in which Luis and Bergere broke clear. With World Long Distance champion and French team mate Pierre Le Corre in the pack, the French were in pole position.
By the end of the second lap, the main pack had dropped to 41 seconds behind. The game was afoot.
From the off, the front group looked organised, with the French trio putting in some huge turns. One key advantage the leaders possessed was the final corner of the bike lap. Taylor Knibb and Charlotte McShane had both crashed there in the women’s race yesterday. The bigger chase pack would have to slow more, notwithstanding the face that Knibb crashed in the lead group.
By lap four, the lead was up to 53 seconds.
Blummenfelt spent a lot of time at the front, yet despite his prowess he could not reel in the leaders. All his incredible long distance strength came from one-on-one non-drafting racing and he could not overcome a coordinated pack of 9. The lead pack also saw regular turns from a revitalised Schoeman after a difficult year and the lead grew to a minute.
Then, as anticipated, a crash disrupted the chase. Hojo and Willis went down independently of one another at the same corner at which Knibb and McShane had crashed. Precious seconds were lost and momentum rested with the leaders.
At this point, attention started to turn to the Series ramifications.
If Bergere won, he needed Yee to finish out of the top-3 and Wilde out of the top-5. If he came second, he would need Wilde to place 7th or worse and Yee to not finish better than 5th.
While Bergere held the cards, one athlete began to turn the tide of the rise.
Jumpei Furuya of Japan has logged some huge bike splits this season, not least in his breakaway at WTCS Cagliari. In the second half of the bike, he hit the front. Assisted by Blummenfelt, Furuya hauled the gap down to 48 seconds with one lap to go. But he was not done.
Over the last lap he dragged the main pack onwards, almost breaking clear himself. As the pack arrived into T2, they trailed the leaders by a mere 36 seconds. At that point, both Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde owed Furuya multiple drinks at mimumum.
A slow T2 saw Yee loose time and he emerged 45 seconds down on the leader, Bergere.
Brownlee and Bergere shared the lead as Luis and Le Corre slipped off having put in huge shifts for their countryman.
A group of 12 runners struck ahead from the main pack, taking the gap to 35 seconds midway through the first lap. This pack included Morgan Pearson, Yee, Wilde, Geens and Blummenfelt.
By the end of the first lap, though, Bergere attacked and quickly put 5 seconds into Brownlee. By now, Yee stood 10th, 32 seconds down, with Wilde 13th and 37 seconds down. With Bergere in the lead, Yee had to take 3rd and Wilde had to climb to 5th.
Pearson was flying and broke clear of his fellow chasers. Halfway through the run, he had cut the gap to Bergere to 13 seconds.
At the midpoint, Yee had moved to 6th, 25 seconds down with Geens on his hip. Wilde seemed to struggle in the heat and was 9th, 39 seconds down. The heat also seemed to be getting to Bergere and he clutched at every drink and ice bag he could find as he ran. Still, he powered on.
Bergere had to hold off Pearson and hope Geens pipped Yee; Pearson was drawing ever closer though. After his early push on the run, Brownlee dropped like Twitter’s share price and fell out of the top-20.
As if the Series could not get any tighter, the last lap arrived. Bergere led by 8 seconds over Pearson. Geens and Yee were battling for bronze.
The unspoken threat, however, was Hayden Wilde. After a slower first half of the run, Wilde was building momentum and closing in on that all-important further place. Indeed, he was now 7th, 18 seconds behind his rival, Yee. If he could get to just one place behind Yee, the world title would be his.
It was shortly into the last lap that Bergere accelerated. Suddenly, the gap to Pearson grew and, after a sensational performance, the American began to falter. With Geens and Wilde 25 seconds behind, the win seemed secured for Bergere and attention turned to the world title.
It was then that Wilde struck. Although he was 39 seconds behind Bergere, he had moved into 5th place and placed one hand on the championship.
Despite his heroics, it seemed that Bergere could no longer win the title. Instead, the calculations became simple.
If Geens took 3rd, Wilde would be world champion.
If Geens took 4th, Yee would be world champion.
And if Geens slipped behind Wilde into 5th, New Zealand would celebrate the world title.
As the tension increased so too did the temperature and the heat became truly brutal. Despite that, the athletes dug deeper, they found more, and they passed through the final timing split of the season. Pearson had slipped to 11 seconds behind Bergere. Geens and Yee had lost time and were a further 17 seconds back.
And then from nowhere, Matthew Hauser of Australia was in 7th and four seconds behind Wilde. The Series would come down to Geens and Hauser, two of the best sprinters in the sport.
The race was clearly going to Bergere as he gave what might be the best individual performance of the season. It was a truly stunning way to win a first WTCS gold. If nothing else, he could take pride in his best ever WTCS finish.
And then, Hauser passed Wilde. All Yee had to do was beat Geens in a sprint and the title was his.
Bergere crossed the line to the rejoicing of the French support staff and Pearson followed him home.
300 metres from the finish line, an athlete attacked.
It was Geens.
In one crushing blow, he ripped the Series from Yee’s hands and delivered it into Bergere’s as he powered home. Yee could only look on as he took fourth and Hauser followed in fifth. Wilde was next to arrive in sixth.
Out of nowhere, Léo Bergere was the 2022 World Champion. His Series winning margin was slim, a mere 21 points over Yee and only 45 points over Wilde. In total, Bergere finished with 4742 points. A Series of 8 races, over 14 months, decided in the final breaths.
8% of TriStats voters picked Bergere to win the world title, displaying remarkable prescience and at first Bergere was not entirely sure that he had won. Amidst the broken hopes and dreams, he was finally able to celebrate a first gold and a first wold championship.
The day had been hyped as a battle for the ages. It was that and so much more.
View the full results here.
