As if to confirm how fine the margins appear at the top of the men’s WTCS going into the new season, our poll to see who people expect to win the Series was completely split.
The results
- Leo Bergere – 16%
- Alex Yee – 27%
- Hayden Wilde – 15%
- Kristian Blummenfelt – 11%
- Someone else – 31%
In our preview of the main contenders, we noted how close the men are and each of the four contenders received a substantial number of votes.
Alex Yee received the most of any one individual. He won three WTCS races last season and will be looking to go even better this year.
The defending champion, Leo Bergere, received the next highest portion, with Hayden Wilde close behind.
The reigning Olympic champion Kristian Blummenfelt actually received the smallest portion of the votes. Nevertheless, his 11% was still noteworthy. He might just be the man most difficult to predict ahead of the new season. Will he return to his 2021 peak? Will long distance triathlon have sapped his speed? Or will we see a whole new version of Blummenfelt?
The largest single share, though, went to “Someone else”. This category covers a number of elite talents, including Jelle Geens and two time world champion Vincent Luis.
One takeaway we can draw from the results is that the WTCS may be entering an era of unprecedented multipolarity. It is hard to recall a season in which it felt like anyone of half a dozen or more men could win on their day.
All in all, the poll results seem to confirm what many have said. 2023 might be one of the hardest to predict seasons of the last few years.
