WTCS Weihai could hardly have been more different to the race that preceded it in the Series. Whereas Hamburg has been a staple of the competition for well over a decade and offers a flat and rapid sprint distance course, Weihai stepped up to host a Series event for the first time and served a brutal, hilly standard distance affair. For all the differences between the two races, one crucial point in common was the fantastic action they provided.
In this article, we delve into five major talking points from WTCS Weihai. From the completeness of the race winners’ displays to the rising talents that made a big impression, and to the athlete that continued a bonkers season, there was plenty to digest.
Their most complete performances
That Alex Yee and Lisa Tertsch won the men’s and women’s events in Weihai was not necessarily the main takeaway. Rather, it was how they earned their gold medals. Yee, the man in the golden helmet, enjoyed one of the best swims of his career, exiting only 8 seconds in arrears of the leader, Matthew Hauser, and in shared 9th place out of the water. For reference, across standard distance Series races in 2023 and 2024 (including the Olympic Games), Yee has lost 24 seconds on average to the fastest swimmer.
After a statement swim, Yee stamped his authority on the bike. On the sixth lap of eight, he broke away with Leo Bergere and Jack Willis. We have seen Bergere make such mini-breaks before; it was a hallmark of his in the 2023 season in particular. Yee’s cycling prowess, though, has tended to be a little more on the subtle side, never quite drawing the same plaudits as some of his rivals or his run. Although the trio were eventually reeled in by the lead pack, Yee’s mini-break was certainly a head-turning moment of strength.
Thereafter, the only question to answer was whether Yee could still call upon his trademark run. Spoiler alert: he could. His split of 29:40 was the fastest of the day and made Yee one of two men to break the 30 minute barrier on the 10km course. We have seen Yee win many times before, but it is hard to recall quite such a commanding display across all facets of the race.
As for Tertsch, she was impeccable from the moment the starter’s horn sounded. The German athlete logged the fastest swim of the field, opening up a 5 second lead to her nearest competitor. For good measure, she was the fastest through T1 too. Perhaps her efforts in the water were inspired in part by her recent performance at the Valencia World Cup. While she won that race, she admitted her frustration at losing ground in the swim and having to make up considerable ground to the breakaway group on the run.
Tertsch then rode cleverly throughout the tough 40km bike before blasting off on the first of the four run laps. She opened up a healthy lead over the defending world champion Beth Potter and 2020 world champion Georgia Taylor-Brown. A steadier middle two laps followed and after the midpoint Potter began to gain ground. Tertsch proved unfazed, though, and promptly stormed away again on the final lap to win by 17 seconds with the fastest run split of the field (32:24). A fair case can be made, then, that the wins of Yee and Tertsch were the most complete of their careers so far.
The pipeline continues
The German team was the largest of the women’s field to take to the start line. From their ranks, they could put forward multiple WTCS medallists, although the defending World U23 champion Selina Klamt ultimately did not start, and it was Tertsch that garnered the limelight with her performance. At the same time, a younger member of the team made a significant splash of her own.
In her second ever Series appearance, Tanja Neubert claimed 4th place. Her debut came in Hamburg where she finished 25th and, as such, she has made quite the jump in the intervening months. A powerful cyclist, the hilly course looked like it would play to her strengths and once she made the front pack out of the water she looked set for a promising result. Nevertheless, she had a series of more experienced rivals ranged against her.
Beyond her WTCS medal-winning teammates, she faced down the likes of Kate Waugh and Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal, both of whom medalled at a WTCS race in 2023, former Olympic champion Gwen Jorgensen and the recent European Championships bronze medallist Alice Betto. Neubert had enjoyed wins at the Europe Cup level this year and recently finished 4th at the Valencia World Cup, but Weihai represented a real step up. She dealt with it superbly.
In the bigger picture, Neubert became the sixth German woman since the start of 2023 to finish in the top-5 of a WTCS race. This is the most of any country in the sport and speaks to phenomenal depth. With young athletes like Neubert coming through the ranks, it seems the German talent pipeline will not be slowing in the near term.
Gwen and Gina stake claims
The American team has been the next deepest in terms of WTCS top-5 finishes; five women have achieved the feat since the start of 2023. In Weihai, two names beyond that group produced performances that indicate the forthcoming competition for spaces on the US WTCS squad will remain as fierce as ever.
Gwen Jorgensen ended the day in 6th place, her best WTCS finish since her return to the sport. Jorgensen’s showing was particularly noteworthy after it came off the back of surgery to treat a broken collarbone. Her teammate Gina Sereno was close behind in Weihai, taking 8th place. Outside of a 31st place at WTCS Sunderland last summer, Sereno had never finished in the top-40 of a WTCS race and so her performance was a huge result. It also came after she won a recent bronze medal at the Karlovy Vary World Cup, suggesting that she is hitting a rich vein of form.
Jorgensen and Sereno are at different stages of their careers but with uncertainty over several futures among the stalwarts of the American team over the coming Olympic cycle they may become pillars of the next iteration of the squad. Notwithstanding that a lot can change over four years, if Sereno and Jorgensen build upon their Weihai levels they could be at the centre of the discussions around the home American team come the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Welcome to the future
Elsewhere, Weihai saw a first WTCS medal for Miguel Hidalgo. The Brazilian athlete therefore becomes the third medallist in the Series born this century. Paul Georgenthum (Hamburg 2021) and Emma Lombardi (Cagliari 2022, plus more since) are the other members of this young club.
When it comes to Hidalgo, it feels like this medal has been a long time coming. He finished 11th in Montreal in 2021 to almost become the first 21st century athlete to make the top-10 of a WTCS race. A year later, he finished 6th at WTCS Leeds. Furthermore, in the last twelve months he has claimed a maiden World Cup gold, won the Pan American Games title and finished 10th on his Olympic debut. Hidalgo, then, has been banging on the podium door for a while now and in Weihai he kicked his way through with a performance that showed maturity beyond his years. The new generation are coming through with increasing alacrity and Miguel Hidalgo seems set to be at the forefront of its charge.
Speedy Gonzalez
Finally, it has been quite a season for Alberto Gonzalez Garcia. To run through his achievements this year, he has – and take a deep breath first – won a World Cup medal, won a World Cup race, hit a WTCS personal best, hit a WTCS personal best, hit another WTCS personal best, finished 8th at the Olympics, and now in Weihai, just for good measure, hit another WTCS personal best. Based on his current trajectory it seems Gonzalez is set to medal at the WTCS Final in Torremolinos, invent time travel to win the next Olympic gold before 2028 and then become the first man to walk on Mars. Probably. I don’t make the rules here.
His rise through the Olympic rankings from the start of the year was like that of a spaceship and played no small part in keeping the intrigue in the hunt for Olympic slots alive, as readers of the rankings updates may recall. His rise on the WTCS scene has been similarly remarkable. This time last year, Gonzalez’s best WTCS result was a 45th place in Sunderland and now he finds himself on the cusp of fighting for a maiden medal in the Series. To say it has been a great year would be an understatement. More importantly, at the rate he is advancing, Gonzalez might become a problem for the heavyweights at the top of the men’s Series sooner rather than later.
With only three weeks remaining until the WTCS Final in Torremolinos-Andalucia, stay abreast with all the latest developments across World Triathlon channels.
