Despite the absences of Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde, the past two men’s winners of WTCS Yokohama, the early phases of today’s race could have been a carbon copy of the previous two seasons. While the swim was pretty much the same and the bike was almost a perfect repeat of what happened 12 months prior, the biggest difference appeared to be the weather. On the run, however, the fireworks were unleashed.
In the first lap of the swim, Márk Dévay and Vincent Luis were reunited at the front of the race. Dévay would hold his advantage throughout the second lap to lead into T1, just as he did last year. Luis, Dorian Coninx, Jonas Schomburg and Matthew Hauser were among those to follow Dévay into transition. Any hope for a breakaway, though, was promptly extinguished.
Following the pattern of previous years, a large pack of over thirty men came together in the first few laps. In a brief light, a small quartet containing Schomburg, Vasco Vilaca and Vetle Bergsvik Thorn conspired to pull away from the lead pack. Notably, the escape quartet contained Lasse Nygaard Priester, the only man that could usurp Schomburg in the race for the third and final slot on the German Olympic team.
The attack, however, was like a candle left in a storm. It flickered briefly and offered an enjoyable new light but it was soon extinguished. When the chase pack of sixteen men bridged to the lead pack, there was almost fifty men at the front, just like the last race in Yokohama.
On the seventh lap of the bike Simon Westermann hit the floor having misjudged a corner. Otherwise, the giant pack seemed only separable with the run.
Then, on the final lap of the bike, a crash rocked the field. Vilaca was affected while Coninx went down and stayed down. The Portuguese athlete had ridden aggressively up until that point and tried to fix his slipped chain but his race was essentially over. Leo Bergere and Morgan Pearson were among those caught out and had to work their way back up to the leaders with a desperate final push.
As is the sine qua non of any race he enters, Schomburg was the first man to get through T2 and onto the run. He was promptly joined by Jelle Geens and Luke Willian as a pack of three came together. Geens was looking to exit a rough patch of form since medalling at WTCS Montreal last season while Willian was hunting the top-8 required to book his place on the Australian Olympic team. Willian was also racing on the back of a win at the recent Wollongong World Cup where his running was in superb form. On the first lap of the run, he did not put a foot wrong.
At the head of the chase pack, an element of team tactics may have been at play. Hauser, a teammate and friend of Willian, led the chasers. While he was running at a good pace, it certainly appeared that he was backing up the chase group. As a WTCS winner from last year, Hauser has the reputation to control such groups and his lead will have been taken from the others. Meanwhile, the lead trio gained a little more breathing room.
The chasers clearly had more in them as Pearson, having been quite a way back out of T2, flew through the pack and latched onto the leaders. In turn, Schomburg slipped back to keep the head group at three men. Charles Paquet was the next to shoot out of the Hauser-controlled chase pack and he replaced a fading Geens. Eventually, Paquet would drop back to the chasers and at the midpoint the chasers dropped Kristian Blummenfelt.
A pack of six chasers – Hauser, Bergere, Luis, Kenji Nener, Casper Stornes and Martin Van Riel – entered the second half of the run 5 seconds back of Willian and Pearson. It was here that the greatest shift from 2023 took place.
In 2023, Pearson had hit the front in a similar manner before suffering with a niggle and dropping down the field. This time, he was determined not to have the same fate befall him. On the third lap, he and Willian doubled their lead as Stornes lost ground. Once the Norwegians had cracked, Willian looked set for Olympic selection but he could scent so much more.
As the bell for the final lap rung, the front pair led by 13 seconds but Willian’s fatigue was showing. Somehow, he had to hold on.
Determined to set to rest the memory of 2023, Pearson drove home his advantage on the final lap. He won his first ever WTCS medal in Yokohama back in 2021 and now was primed to open a new Olympic year with another first. Or so it seemed.
On the final lap, Hauser sprang into life. Along with Bergere, he set after Willian and ate up the gap like it was nothing. Notably, Luis could not stick with the move, which may play into Bergere’s favour when it comes to Olympic selection.
Hauser then stretched clear from Bergere and drew level with Willian. From there, he streaked away and bounded after Pearson. The Australian athlete barely looked like he had raced, whereas those around him were at full stretch. It was either a perfectly paced effort or a sign he may have left too much in the tank early on. Had he made his move earlier, or even gone with Willian at the start, Hauser possibly could have won.
In the end, it did not matter as the gritty Pearson dug deep and claimed his first ever WTCS win. Hauser crossed 7 seconds later after slowing to turn and celebrate his teammate as Willian claimed an outstanding maiden medal.
Bergere took 4th place to perhaps confirm his Olympic slot while Paquet followed in an impressive 5th place. Van Riel and Nener followed while Miguel Hidalgo made a big comeback on the run to take 8th place. The former world champions, Luis and Blummenfelt, then rounded out the top-10.
View the full results here.
