At the start of the year, the season always looks ripe with possibility. Any of a number of things could occur; for instance, at the start of 2023, would anyone have anticipated an even more dramatic coming men’s WTCS Final than the one that preceded it?
Sometimes, however, the crystal ball through which we see the future falters. One only needs to see our improbable predictions for 2023 to realise the extent to which the the crystal ball is broken. With that in mind, in this article we will delve into the rather less likely events that could take place in elite triathlon this year.
When they ultimately do not transpire, everyone knew they were unlikely in the first place. At the same time, they have the tiniest, almost invisible, probability of coming true.
The Men’s 2024 WTCS Final will be the most dramatic yet
Is it even possible to surpass the drama of the men’s 2022 and 2023 WTCS Finals?
As Leo Bergere and then Dorian Coninx snatched the world titles at the last minute will spellbinding performances, the two races provided the most captivating triathlon showdowns of recent memory. An argument could even be made that they were the two greatest races in triathlon history, with both world titles literally being decided on the blue carpet with seconds to spare.
After 2022, it did not seem possible that the same would happen again. Yet it did. As a result, the 2024 WTCS season will make it three in a row with an even crazier finale in store. Expect fireworks, ten athletes to compete for the world title, and more twists and turns than a Game of Thrones series.
A solo breakaway will win at WTCS Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is generally one of the flattest courses on the WTCS circuit and solo breakaways have been a rarity in the WTCS in recent times.
However, there is cause for optimism. WTCS Abu Dhabi 2022 showed that a breakaway could work (albeit in a tightly functioning group) while Bergere launched a short-lived solo attack at WTCS Abu Dhabi in 2023. The success of the Taylor Knibb-Summer Rappaport breakaway at the similarly flat WTCS Montreal last summer also shows that when there is a will there is a way.
A solo breakaway has never won in Abu Dhabi and it has been years since one yielded a gold medal. Maybe that will change in the first race of the 2024 Series.
Women’s overall WTCS podium made up of 2010s world champs
With a reigning women’s WTCS podium of Beth Potter, Cassandre Beaugrand and Emma Lombardi, it will be a tall order for any new faces to elbow their way into the top-3 positions this season. Throw in a formidable British trio of Taylor-Brown, Coldwell and Waugh and several other 2023 WTCS medallists like Lindemann, Tapia and Periault and the challenge of breaking onto the podium is a daunting one.
However, all of the women’s world champions from 2014 to 2019 should be racing this year (technically all the world champions from 2014 to 2023 will be active). Gwen Jorgensen (2014, 2015), Flora Duffy (2016, 2017), Vicky Holland (2018) and Katie Zaferes (2019) stand as the four active world champions from the 2010s. The prediction here is that three of them will make up the overall WTCS podium this year.
Duffy was world champion as recently as 2022. However, injury forced her out of the 2023 campaign. Jorgensen won four World Cups in 2023 and showed continued improvement across her first triathlon season since 2016. Zaferes and Holland likewise claimed World Cup medals as they took positive steps following their respective maternity breaks. Seeing as Zaferes also finished 5th in Montreal, her WTCS form also appeared to be returning.
Given the calibre of athletes involved, it is certainly not out of the question for one of them to make the overall WTCS podium this year. For three of them to do so will require a very special year.
Loughborough training group gets lost in Australia
An early season training camp in Australia for the Loughborough crew paid off last year. After spending a few weeks Down Under for some quality training in the sun, the group came back in top shape for the early stages of the season.
Alex Yee powered to victory at WTCS Abu Dhabi while Sophie Coldwell lit up the race as she claimed the silver medal. Coldwell had been part of the Loughborough group that threw down in criterium racing while in Australia and it appeared to pay off handsomely considering her subsequent strength on two wheels.
Coldwell also went on to win at WTCS Yokohama while another member of the group, Connor Bentley, claimed two European Cup victories early in the season.
The Loughborough contingent will be returning to Australia for another camp in the near future. However, whereas it paid off in 2023, fortunes will turn this time. On a day trip in the Outback, the group will get lost and become stranded.
At one point Bentley will encounter help; however he will have embraced another of his patented funky haircuts while on the camp and thus will scare away the potential support. Before long, the Loughborough group settle into their new Australian life and miss the triathlon season altogether.
Vincent Luis quits triathlon to start coffee business
George Clooney and his Nespresso adverts better watch out. A new force in the coffee market is on the horizon.
Injury disrupted Vincent Luis’ triathlon campaign in 2023. After roaring back to the top of the sport with a defiant victory in Bermuda in 2022, he seemed primed to stake his Olympic claim and reclaim his place in the highest echelon of the sport. Alas it did not quite unfold as hoped.
Following his latest setbacks, he will have to fight his way back to the top once more. However, a new path may open for the former world champion.
Known for his love of coffee, Luis may actually move away from triathlon to fully embrace his new passion in life. With a global network made up of sporting and business contacts, Luis is able to secure the funding and assistance he needs to get his new coffee brand off the ground. From there, everything snowballs.
Triathlon’s coffee connoisseur builds his coffee empire and by the end of the year receives a strange phone call. It’s George Clooney asking to become the face of his brand. What else.
Kristian Blummenfelt replaces Hemsworth in The Witcher
As fans worldwide grieve the departure of Henry Cavill from the hit Netflix series, The Witcher, further change may be in the offing.
Liam Hemsworth has been brought in to replace the British actor in the upcoming fourth season of the show. However, even Netflix appeared to realise the lack of popularity in the decision and elected to throw Hemsworth under the bus with their own advertising.
With a disgruntled fan base and a new star that has received somewhat harsh media treatment, Netflix may have to pivot once more. Step forward Kristian Blummenfelt.
He has conquered everything there is to win in the triathlon world. Now, perhaps, there are different monsters to slay.
Rival French triathlon pop trios light up Paris
Inspired by the rampant success of the Eurovision Song Contest (or at least the meme of the guy playing the saxophone), the organisers of the Paris Olympic Games take a radical new step in marketing.
Ahead of the Olympics, the three French men and women selected to race in the triathlon events will form rival pop groups in an attempt to drum up interest. The likely female trio of Beaugrand, Periault and Lombardi will be branded as France’s answer to the Spice Girls, sparking mania with their pop tunes.
Meanwhile, as Luis continues the expansion of his coffee empire, Leo Bergere joins Pierre Le Corre and Dorian Coninx in the male trio. In a risky move, Coninx decides on a completely new hair colour, having previously bleached his hair blonde, to help promote the band.
With an edgy and alternative sound, the male trio take the fight in the charts to the French female trio, with both breaking records. At the Games themselves, though, a problem arises. Even more difficult then the decision of who will comprise the Mixed Team Relay is the choice between which band plays in the opening ceremony, which divides France and the world.
