With the first WTCS race of the season ticked off, the early rankings have taken shape.
As expected, Sprint races will be worth 75% of the points that an Olympic distance race is worth this season. There was a little confusion even amongst some athletes prior to the start of the season about how many points the different distances would be worth. This indicates there may have been a slight breakdown somewhere along the way between World Triathlon, National Federations and the athletes.
Of greater consequence, it means Beth Potter and Alex Yee received 750 points for their respective wins in Abu Dhabi.
The Women’s Top-5
- Beth Potter – 750 points
- Sophie Coldwell – 694 points
- Taylor Spivey – 642 points
- Summer Rappaport – 594 points
- Lena Meißner – 549 points
The full women’s rankings can be viewed here.
The Men’s Top-5
- Alex Yee – 750 points
- Vasco Vilaca – 694 points
- Manoel Messias – 642 points
- Vincent Luis – 594 points
- Dorian Coninx – 549 points
The full men’s rankings can be viewed here.
Main Takeaways
One thing that jumps out from the rankings is that Cassandre Beaugrand and Leo Bergere each earned 508 points for their 6th place finishes. Both are among the favourites for this year’s overall title.
However, their Abu Dhabi scores are unlikely to be of great help at the end of the season.
Similarly, Georgia Taylor-Brown received 252 points for her 15th place. Once the final Series tallies are counted, it is unlikely that Abu Dhabi will still be among her scoring races.
In 2022, it took over 5000 points to make the top-2 in the women’s WTCS and over 4600 points to make the top-3 in the men’s Series. With Sprint races valued less this year, that total points will likely drop.
On the other hand, there are still three Olympic distance racing opportunities prior to the Final in Pontevedra. 5000 points is still technically possible. To do that an athlete would need to win all three Olympic distance races prior to Pontevedra, the Final itself and a Sprint race.
Realistically, though, somewhere in the range of 4500 points could be enough this year (from five scoring races). Anything outside the podium will probably have minimal value towards winning the overall Series.
Everyone therefore needs one good Sprint race (or Super Sprint race as is the case in Hamburg). Given that, Yee and Potter have made as good a start as possible and will now need to turn to the Olympic distance.
With Yokohama and Cagliari next up, two more medals could see either one of them create a big gap to the rest of the field.
On the men’s side, Kristian Blummenfelt missed the race and Hayden Wilde had a stroke of bad luck. Meanwhile, Flora Duffy and Taylor Knibb have yet to open their accounts for the season. Those four athletes will thus be starting from zero in Yokohama. By the time Cagliari is done, Yee or Potter (or both) could have built a commanding lead in the Series.
Another athlete that needs to be discussed is Vasco Vilaca.
Vilaca was fantastic in Abu Dhabi. Last year he showed hints of what he could do, particularly as part part of the breakaway at WTCS Bermuda. In Abu Dhabi, though, he demonstrated that he had really elevated his running over the winter.
Should we be talking about him as a contender for the overall title? That would go a long way to helping his Olympic aspirations for given the Portuguese qualifying criteria for Paris. We will still have to see if Vilaca can match his performance over the Olympic distance. However he has inserted himself into world title discussions this season.
Meanwhile, Manoel Messias likewise had a great race. Although he lost a little too much time in the swim, he got away with it in Abu Dhabi. However, his swim indicated a vulnerability that may hold him back at some events this year. He seems like a candidate for an overall top-5, certainly a top-10 at the very least. If he patches his swim a little, he too could contend for the Series podium.
A long season ahead awaits the athletes. As such, no one has won or lost the season already. The early initiative has been seized, though, and it remains to be seen how the field responds to Alex Yee and Beth Potter. If Potter and Yee improve across the season, as they are likely to, it may prove difficult for others to regain their advantage.
