The men’s World Cup in Yeongdo had been a cagey affair for much of the race. Ahead of the run, once plenty of work had been done to whittle down the field to a select few, it seemed a tight finish would be in store.
In the end, it was not close.
Fresh off his WTCS debut in Sunderland, Max Stapley drove the pace in the swim alongside Aiden Longcroft-Harris of Canada.
Over the course of the 750m, the lead pair managed to stretch the field and put time into some of the fastest runners, such as Callum McClusky and Makoto Odakura.
Takumi Hojo, however, the man wearing number 1, was safely nestled on the feet of the leaders.
Along with his compatriot Kyotaro Yoshikawa as well as Trent Thorpe, Valentin Wernz and Daniel Dixon, Hojo exited T1 at the front of the race.
Stapley and Hojo set about building upon their nascent advantage over the field. A big turn on the first lap from Jumpei Furuya, Oscar Dart, Tjebbe Kaindl and Stefan Zachäus saw them ride up to the leaders to create a front pack of eleven.
With Furuya and Kaindl in particular, the lead group had the firepower required to stay away from chasers. As Stapley, Hojo and Furuya rotated through the early turns, the 15 second lead to the chasers doubled.
Towards the end of the bike, as the lead cleared the 40 second mark, the leaders began to exchange a few sideways glances. Wernz had logged a best ever WTCS finish in Sunderland while Furuya and Dart each had international wins to their name. Crucially, all three were known to have a quick turn of pace over 5km.
The leaders therefore began to lose a little momentum. Having built a commanding lead over the chasers, the win was assured. Yet each man knew to keep his legs fresher than his rivals before the run began.
After a brief lull, the front pack burst back into life as T2 neared.
Kaindl had one of the best transitions and moved to the head of the race alongside Zachäus and Hojo. If anyone planned to run with Hojo, though, they would have to come up with a new plan.
The Japanese athlete was irrepressible on the first lap of the run and exploded into an early lead. Wernz, Stapley and Thrope led the chase, with Dart, Kaindl and Furuya on their feet. None of them, however, could make a dent into Hojo’s advantage.
Once his lead hit 20 seconds, Hojo could tell the race was won. He powered through the second lap of the run and, as he honed in on the finish, was able to luxuriate in his moment of success.
Almost two years had passed since Hojo’s first and only World Cup medal (a silver in Haeundae in 2021). As he crossed the line in Yeongdo, though, he could call himself a World Cup winner.
On the final lap, Stapley managed to break clear of the rest of the chasers and sealed an impressive silver medal, his first of any colour on the world stage. Wernz then followed to claim the bronze medal after out-kicking Thorpe and Kaindl at the end.
View the full results here.
