How you look at WTCS Weihai, the final race of the regular WTCS season, is a matter of perspective. For plenty of observers and fans of the sport, it is easy to wonder how we arrived here so quickly. Under this outlook, it feels like the season started only five minutes ago and we are left to wonder where it, like the rest of the summer, has gone. Then there are the athletes. Those that have been on the Olympic grind will have covered plenty of ground, as much psychologically as physically and perhaps even more so through air miles, and will regard the start of this season as though it was a distant chapter of history.
Whether the season has been long or short, it has raised pulses for all on either side of the blue carpet through several truly scintillating races. After WTCS Weihai, the 2024 world champions will be crowned with the WTCS Final in Torremolinos-Andalucia and, as such, it is time to take stock of where we stand and how we got here.
WTCS Yokohama – Periault and Pearson lay down early markers
An early curveball was thrown in the season when the forced cancellation of WTCS Abu Dhabi meant a postponed start to the Series. With the athletes back to training for another two months, there was no tangible hint of where everyone’s form stood and how they might perform. WTCS Yokohama thus became the new season opener while it also had the added dimension of shaping Olympic qualification. The stage was set for an explosive round of action. Naturally, Yokohama did not disappoint.
In the men’s race, Morgan Pearson (USA) powered a maiden WTCS win on the back of a storming run split. Pearson had enjoyed a mixed history in Yokohama. In 2021 he had earned a first WTCS medal at the event but in 2023 he suffered one of the worst runs of his career. At the start of this season, though, he planted his flag as a possible Olympic contender. Luke Willian (AUS) was one of the few men capable of living with Pearson on the run. Although he was eventually passed by countryman Matthew Hauser and denied the silver medal, Willian nonetheless held on for 3rd place, a personal best WTCS finish, and an unforgettable way of sealing his Olympic ticket.
Leonie Periault (FRA) was the star of the women’s show. Like Pearson, she claimed a first WTCS win with her Yokohama performance and turned plenty of heads with her sensational running speed. After her French teammates Cassandre Beaugrand and Emma Lombardi had attracted attention for their overall podium finishes in the 2023 WTCS, Periault served a timely reminder of her own Olympic credentials. Lombardi would take bronze in Yokohama to launch her own Paris campaign behind Taylor Knibb (USA).
WTCS Cagliari – Beaugrand and Yee fire warning shots
Two weeks later, the action returned at WTCS Cagliari. It was on this day that athletes could log their final score of the Olympic qualification window and Paris places remained up in the air for multiple countries. Moreover, Cagliari marked the opening appearances of the likes of 2023 world champion Beth Potter (GBR), Beaugrand, Alex Yee (GBR), Hayden Wilde (NZL) and more. With only two months to go until the Games, it was time for several key players to show their hands.
Yee came out on top in the men’s race with a last-ditch attack against his eternal rival Wilde. Remarkably, the pair were never separated by more than a second in any single discipline, highlighting just how evenly-matched they had become heading into Paris. Taking bronze on the day was Csongor Lehmann (HUN) as the 2021 World U23 champion stepped onto the Series podium for the first time.
Over in the women’s race, this was the moment we saw a new flash of steel in Beaugrand’s arsenal. Heading into the close, she was put on the back foot against Potter, Lombardi and Lisa Tertsch (GER), the latter of whom had already beaten her at the Europe Cup in Quarteira earlier in the year. Whereas Beaugrand might have once cracked under such an attack, in Cagliari she rallied and launched a counter of her own. Only Tertsch could respond but Beaugrand would not be denied a first ever WTCS win over the standard distance. Tertsch took the silver for her efforts, a best ever WTCS showing on her part, while Potter reminded the field of her class in 3rd place.
When all was said and done in Cagliari, Willian and Lombardi assumed leadership of the overall standings after enjoying better races than Pearson and Periault.
WTCS Hamburg – Beaugrand at it again while Hauser impresses
We then turned to the iconic stop in Hamburg in July for the only sprint distance action of the 2024 Series. With the race falling less than three weeks out from the Olympic Games, tapers and strategies were mixed. The men’s Cagliari podium opted against racing but their Yokohama counterparts were raring to go. By contrast, the women’s Cagliari podium were all primed to battle again with only Lombardi from the Yokohama top-3 back for more.
The men’s race belonged to Matthew Hauser as he added a gold medal to his Yokohama silver, although his success did not come without an immense contest. Vasco Vilaca (POR), himself back from a crash in Yokohama that also downed 2023 world champion Dorian Coninx (FRA), secured the silver medal while Pierre Le Corre (FRA) came through for 3rd place after rubber-stamping his Olympic berth in Cagliari. Further back, an 11th place for Willian was enough to hold off Hauser in the overall standings having raced three times to Hauser’s two.
It was a case of rinse and repeat in the women’s race. In a replication of the Cagliari podium, Beaugrand held off a furious late charge from Tertsch to take the win and Potter settled for bronze. As with Willian in the men’s standings, Lombardi held onto her overall Series lead. Her 5th place in Hamburg helped to keep her ahead of Tertsch, who had previously finished 14th in Yokohama as her third score.
Paris Olympic Games – Beaugrand and Yee crowned Olympic champions
At the end of July, the big show arrived. The Paris Olympic Games had been the guiding star for virtually every athlete in the WTCS. As was the case in 2021 with the Tokyo Olympics, Paris counted towards the WTCS with the same 1000 points on offer as a standard distance Series race. In addition to etching their name into Olympic history, then, those pushing for a medal had a massive opportunity to advance their world title hopes.
In the most exhilarating of finales, Yee reeled in and passed Wilde in the final few hundred metres in the men’s race. With a lap to go and a mere 2.5km of running left, Wilde had led his great rival by 14 seconds. All of the closeness of Cagliari had evaporated as Wilde put everything into a move that would shape his Olympic fortunes. Yet Yee held firm. The bronze medal went to Leo Bergere (FRA) as the 2022 world champion held off Le Corre in a frantic final lap.
Two factors denied an identical women’s podium for the third straight race. The first was the crash that knocked Tertsch from the lead pack on the bike when well set. The second was the outstanding performance from Julie Derron (SUI). Having never medalled in the WTCS before, Derron was not on a lot of people’s list of favourites prior to the race. Nevertheless, a powerful bike split brought her up to the lead pack and then she unleashed the run of her life to claim 2nd place.
The win went to Beaugrand as she produced one of the most memorable home team moments of the Games while Potter claimed a third consecutive bronze medal. With her podium coming at the Olympics some eight years after competing in Rio de Janeiro in another sport, it will likely stand as one of the most special of her career.
WTCS Weihai – what might come next?
So where do we stand? A 7th place finish in Paris saw Hauser take over the men’s Series lead with his third result of the year. With 2301.40 points, he holds a healthy lead over Le Corre (2110.36 points). Both are due to race in Weihai where they will have to improve upon the worst of their three existing scores to boost their current points tally.
The problem for both is that Yee sits in 3rd place overall with two wins from two and 2000 points. Yee will therefore essentially gain points in Weihai so long as he finishes, handing him a crucial advantage. Bergere, Wilde and Willian then make up the rest of the top-6 – like Yee, Wilde is the only man in this cohort to have only raced twice – and all three will be in Weihai.
Over in the women’s standings, Beaugrand’s perfect season has earned 2750 points and a lead of over 300 points against Lombardi (2438.53 points). Neither Beaugrand nor Lombardi will be racing in Weihai and so the former can only lose the world title from here. Even if Lombardi wins the WTCS Final, overall victory will still be in Beaugrand’s hands.
Potter and Tertsch sit in 3rd and 4th, respectively, after Paris and each have three scores to their names. Both will be racing in Weihai. Potter has 2352.98 points and can certainly pass Lombardi. Her 3rd place in Hamburg is currently worth fewer points as it came over the sprint distance so that is the lowest hanging fruit. Tertsch, meanwhile, has 2154.71 points and still needs to replace her season-opening 14th place from Yokohama. Should she make the podium in Weihai – and her recent win at the Valencia World Cup was a promising hint in that respect – she could overtake both Lombardi and Potter. Separately, neither Flora Duffy (BER) nor Knibb, who are in 5th and 6th, respectively, will be in Weihai.
A fascinating final race of the regular WTCS season is therefore in store as the final shifts and moves will be made ahead of the denouement in Torremolinos. Be sure not to miss out on the Weihai action on Friday 27th September and you can watch the races live on TriathlonLive.
