Hellwig and De Koning Take The Wins in M’Diq

Benjamin Eastman

On Sunday, the starting gun went off on the M’Diq African Cup. With one of the most cosmopolitan start lists of the year, M’Diq played host to a range of talents. The athletes took on the Olympic distance around the Mediterranean town with many using the race as a tune-up for the upcoming WTCS Cagliari and European Championships. Men’s race Kevin Tarek Viñuela Gonzalez led the way in the water. While he gained a slight lead, a small cluster of men were able to mostly stay with him. Among the…

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Where Does Gustav Iden Go Next After Difficult Start?

Benjamin Eastman

After two races of the 2023 World Triathlon Championship Series, it is fair to say that Gustav Iden’s season is not quite going according to plan. At both WTCS Abu Dhabi and WTCS Yokohama he has faced difficulties and now finds himself slipping behind in his pursuit of qualification for the Paris Olympic Games. Iden is a proven quantity in triathlon; he is the reigning world champion in Ironman after all. However, with challenges arising both within his own racing as well as externally, he may need to take some…

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Is Bergere Trying Too Hard In The Men’s WTCS?

Benjamin Eastman

One of the abiding images of WTCS Yokohama was that of Leo Bergere clamped onto Hayden Wilde’s wheel and then feet during the bike and run. For much of the race, the two stars of the men’s World Series went toe-to-toe in their quest for the world title. Ultimately, however, when Wilde made his crucial surge on the run Bergere could not go with him. After suffering from a slight cramp on the run, Bergere slipped back into the chase group and had to settle for 5th place. Having also…

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Szalai and De Nigro Overcome The Pressure In Caorle Finals

Benjamin Eastman

After the drama of the heats on Friday, thirty athletes remained in the finals of the European Junior Cup in Caorle. With a Super Sprint triathlon ahead, there were a few nervous faces on the start line. The shorter format promised to push some already-tired bodies to their max. More importantly, the race ahead would determine whether many of the field would get to race at the World Junior Championships with slots to be determined and some national federations relying on the race as a selection event. In what was…

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Bentley and Klamt Win European Cup Caorle Races In Style

Benjamin Eastman

Women’s race It had been coming. After an outstanding swimming career prior to moving over to triathlon and having clocked some fast times earlier in the year, Jolien Vermeylen was on paper the best swimmer in the field. Up until now, though, she had not always been able to show it in her triathlon endeavours, or at least not to the degree she may have hoped. That changed in Caorle as she ripped a crushing 750m split. Only four woman were able to get within 10 seconds of Vermeylen’s time…

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Is It Time To Talk About Vasco Vilaca’s World Title Chances?

Benjamin Eastman

We should have known better. After his silver medal at WTCS Abu Dhabi, Vasco Vilaca clearly had a hot hand and once the the triathlon gods saw that we had neglected to include him in our men’s preview for WTCS Yokohama the chain of events had been set. By winning the bronze medal in Yokohama, Vasco Vilaca has taken over the lead of the men’s Series. With 1549 points, he is over 200 points clear of the next athlete (Dorian Coninx). Of course it is early days. Alex Yee only…

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Sun Comes Out For Wilde In Win At WTCS Yokohama

Benjamin Eastman

It was not until the rain cleared that the race revealed its hand. In sodden conditions in Yokohama, the athletes lined up on the pontoon with a number of questions to be answered. Two years after his win in the city, could Kristian Blummenfelt return to the summit of the short distance mountain? Only a week prior, he had still been dabbling with the longer distance. Was Hayden Wilde ready to translate his Sprint distance form over the Olympic format? And what did Leo Bergere, the world champion, have to…

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Coldwell Prevails In The Rain At WTCS Yokohama

Benjamin Eastman

There’s a new sheriff in town. As the women lined up on the pontoon, Tokyo Bay looked calm. The silver medallist from WTCS Abu Dhabi, Sophie Coldwell, wore number 1 and took her position on the far right of the pontoon. A few moments later, her compatriot Georgia Taylor-Brown stepped up to take her position. After narrowly missing out on the world title last year, many had expected Taylor-Brown to contend for the overall win in this year’s Series. After a slow start in Abu Dhabi, she was returning to…

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Heats Roundup From The Caorle European Junior Cup

Benjamin Eastman

The first races of the European Junior Cup in Caorle, Italy, took place to determine who made the final of the event. With the race doubling as the only European qualification event for this year’s World Junior Championships, making the final could prove the difference between a country being able to send an athlete to the Championships or not. A Super Sprint triathlon awaited the athletes in both the heats and the finals. The 300m swim, 9.5km bike and 1.9km run offered just enough to tempt the athletes to really…

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Inside The Team SPIX Spanish Training Camp

Benjamin Eastman

In April, Team SPIX travelled to Lloret de Mar, Spain, to hold a training camp to fine tune preparations for the upcoming season. Under the command of Adrien Vivès, a small group of athletes were put through their paces with a focus on race skills. “We were a small group as some of our athletes were competing in Africa and South America,” explained Vivès. One such athlete that was away was Vitali Vorontsov. Instead of taking part in the camp, Vorontsov had already launched his season in South America. At…

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The Key Course Information at WTCS Yokohama 2023

Benjamin Eastman

While there have been a couple of tweaks to the WTCS Yokohama course, for many of the athletes the route will be a familiar one. The most immediate factor will be beyond the course itself. Two days before the scheduled start of the race, an earthquake struck Chiba to the east of Tokyo. Chiba is situated on the opposite side of the bay to Yokohama and so there may be some residual effects and issues. World Triathlon noted a contingency plan in the race briefing should there be any further…

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Vincent Luis Suffers Stress Reaction In Hip

Benjamin Eastman

Last week we reported that Vincent Luis had withdrawn from WTCS Yokohama due to a hip niggle. Today, however, Luis revealed that after an MRI scan he has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in his hip area at the top of his femur. As such the injury is worse than originally anticipated. Whereas Luis had hoped to race at WTCS Cagliari in two weeks, he will now be facing a delayed return to the season. Most significantly, he will miss his opportunity of achieving a top-5 finish in Yokohama…

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The Start List Cheat Sheets for WTCS Yokohama 2023

Benjamin Eastman

WTCS Yokohama is right around the corner. As with WTCS Abu Dhabi, we have prepared a cheat sheet with all the relevant stats for the athletes starting. Note that the data shown applies for Olympic distance races in the 2022 season. This covers the events from Yokohama, Cagliari and Bermuda as well as the WTCS Final in Abu Dhabi. The idea is to therefore provide the most relevant data points for Yokohama, which will also be contested over the Olympic distance. For every athlete, you will find their average position out of…

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