As the dust settles on another barnstorming World Triathlon Championship Series, it is time to reflect on the names, the faces and the races that had us on the edges of our seats across a monumental 2025.
Seven regular-season races leading to the Championship Finals Wollongong. Three races plus the Finals contributing to the overall rankings. New venues in the shape of Alghero (ITA), French Riviera (FRA), Karlovy Vary (CZE) and, of course, Wollongong (AUS) for the big finale. The season was a long one, the strategies all important, the entertainment non-stop.
This is the story of the 2025 WTCS season.
WTCS ABU DHABI
The 2025 calendars had barely been unwrapped by the time the traditional season-opener, WTCS Abu Dhabi, got proceedings underway earlier than ever, all the way back in mid-February.
Moving away from the F1 circuit of old to Hudayriat, the women were first out onto the new-look course, and with no sign of Olympic and World Champion Cassandre Beaugrand nor GB's Beth Potter, it was the German women who took full advantage of their absences. Leonie Periault tried to hold them off, but the juggernaut would not be stopped, and a first ever German sweep of the podium followed with Lisa Tertsch, Nina Eim and Laura Lindemann taking the honours.
For his part, the defending men’s Champion Alex Yee was taking a marathon-sized post-Olympic diversion from the blue carpet in 2025. Still, the entertainment flowed as a huge bike effort from Hayden Wilde saw him bridge up to the early leaders and then make a breakaway of his own. It didn't stick too hard, but the kiwi was still able to run away from Matt Hauser and Vasco Vilaça over the closing lap to kick off his year with a statement gold.
Little did we know that that would be the last time we saw the New Zealander until the end of August…
WTCS YOKOHAMA
Hayden Wilde’s horrific bike accident in Tokyo would take him out of the 2025 action indefinitely. In his absence, Matt Hauser began to take control of the Series with an outstanding WTCS Yokohama, taking the gold after last year’s silver and assuming the top of the rankings after once again holding off Vasco Vilaça (POR) in second, Miguel Hidalgo of Brazil the bronze.
The women’s race saw high drama in the pouring rain, as Cassandre Beaugrand came down hard on the bike to take herself out of contention, Jeanne Lehair (LUX) taking full advantage of the cold and the chaos to pull clear of Beth Potter and Lisa Tertsch to land a career-first WTCS gold, establishing herself as a major contender for 2025 in the process.
WTCS ALGHERO
Onto a brand new beachfront course in Alghero, Sardinia, and an incredible effort out of the water and through transition from Cass Beaugrand helped her get onto a front pack including Summer Rappaport (USA), Bianca Seregni (ITA), Olivia Mathias (GBR) and Maya Kingma (NED). The breakaway stuck, leaving the likes of Potter, Periault, Tertsch and Lehair out of reach even over the 10km run. But out of T2 there only ever looked like one winner, and it was Beaugrand back with a bang after Yokohama's drama to put herself in prime position for a title defence in 2025, Seregni and Mathias with debut podiums in second and third.
It was a similar story in the men’s race, where an unbelievable opening salvo from Leo Bergere on the first bike lap helped the fastest swimmers quickly get clear and stay clear of the field. That front group inevitably included Series leader Matt Hauser, but also Miguel Hidalgo who, as his coach would later testify, left a new high-water mark for Brazilian triathlon by rapidly soaring clear of his rivals out of T2 to run the entire 10km solo to the tape and secure his country’s first top-tier gold in nearly 30 years ahead of Hauser and Bergere.
WTCS HAMBURG
The French women were on fire once again at the sprint-distance classic WTCS Hamburg, and the writing looked on the wall as Cassandre Beaugrand blew out of transition to the front of the race, only for teammate Leonie Periault to suddenly click into gear, searing past her rival and never relinquishing her pace or the lead to take her first win of the year, Beth Potter with the bronze, Lisa Tertsch dropping back to a surprise 9th.
Another powerful Hauser swim saw him out of the water on the heels of Alessio Crociani (ITA), Miguel Hidalgo right with them, but it was soon the home favourite Henry Graf blasting the bike. The German would push it too hard on the penultimate lap and slid out, but was quickly back on and in touch with the leaders. Onto the run, though, it was Hauser again setting the pace, only Vasco Vilaça able to stay with him until the final 800m when the Aussie let rip once more to pull clear and take the tape, Crociani’s bronze his first ever Series podium.
WTCS FRENCH RIVIERA
Triathlon history was on the menu in the French Riviera at the end of August, where the first ever WTCS and T100 double-header race weekend took the sport by storm. Olympic rivals Hayden Wilde and Alex Yee were back on the start list for the first time together in 2025, Wilde attempting an unprecedented back-to-back double of his own, but losing touch early in the swim and unable to recover. Yee was also unable to catch onto the front pack of 10, their gap going out to almost a minute onto the run, where Matt Hauser would deliver one of the quickest 5k of his career, holding off a resurgent Vasco Vilaça with a final push to the tape, Hidalgo third, Yee finishing 9th and Wilde 11th.
The women’s race was a duel between local heroes Cassandre Beaugrand and Jeanne Lehair right from the gun, the two exiting the water together, in touch for the full 20km bike, and onto the run side-by-side with Emma Lombardi. Lehair was able to put the Olympic Champion under more pressure than she has been used to in recent outings, but it was Beaugrand who was able to muscle to the front at the decisive moment and drive to the tape, Leonie Periault with a late surge to pass Lombardi for bronze.
WTCS KARLOVY VARY
The Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary made the step up to host the top tier of racing for the first time in September, a classic World Cup Olympic distance course known for being one of the most demanding on the circuit. That much was immediately clear as Jeanne Lehair took a hard fall early on the bike, somehow able to get up and rolling again despite slamming into the barrier. Meanwhile, Maya Kingma was able to master the climbs and brush off the rain to break clear, Taylor Spivey joining her towards the end of the 40km and then pulling clear on the run. There she would remain until the final climb on the final lap, at which point the marauding Beth Potter would finally reel in her rival, going on to take the tape and a first win since Pontevedra 2023, Lisa Tertsch with bronze.
A strong bike group of 14 men came together after the uniquely demanding and technical Karlovy Vary lake swim, only for Henry Graf and Mark Devay to make a breakaway stick hard at the halfway mark. They were joined by Tjebbe Kaindl (AUT) and able to carve out a 40-second lead over the likes of Matt Hauser and Miguel Hidalgo in the chasers. Graf then flew clear of his closest rivals to take on the entire 10km run solo, and it was the Brazilian who would put him under most pressure only to run out of course as Graf held on for a first-ever medal WTCS medal, gold at that, Hungary’s Csongor Lehmann with bronze, Britain’s Oliver Conway with a huge Series debut in fourth.
WTCS WEIHAI
Weihai, China, was the venue for the last racing before the Finals, and precious ranking points were on the line in the hunt for the titles. That meant a mouthwatering battle between Beth Potter and Lisa Tertsch as the top-ranked women, and the Brit was able to display her very best run form once again, making dropping the German look easy on lap one and never looking back all the way to the tape. The win also took her to the top of the Series rankings heading into Wollongong, silver seeing Tertsch secure in fourth, teammate Tanja Neubert landing a first WTCS podium in third.
There were more breakaway fireworks in the men’s race, this time Max Studer (SUI) and Tjebbe Kaindl getting clear of the pack after several attempts were closed down, Henry Graf and Darr Smith (USA) closing the gap somewhat over the final kilometres. Studer was onto the gas right out of T2, though, and nobody could hold a torch to him, the Swiss bullet taking the tape by nearly half a minute for his first ever Series win, Henry Graf digging in to secure the silver, USA’s John Reed finally delivering on his hard work to run his way to a first WTCS bronze.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS WOLLONGONG
All of which set things up beautifully for what would become one of the all-time great Championship Finals in Wollongong, Australia, 100km south of Sydney. We have come to expect the unexpected from Grand Finals, but nothing could have prepared anyone for the drama that followed.
Beth Potter and Cassandre Beaugrand lined up level on points at the top of the rankings and knowing if they could win the race, they would become World Champion. Behind them, Jeanne Lehair, Lisa Tertsch and Leonie Periault were lying in wait and ready to pounce on any opportunity. A hugely choppy swim and change of course ramped up the drama early on, Potter, Beaugrand, Tertsch and Emma Lombardi forming part of a 7-deep break out onto the bike and putting increasing amounts of daylight between themselves and the chasers.
The gap went out to a minute out of T2 and, just as the world waited for a Beaugrand versus Potter showdown, the unthinkable happened. Early on lap two, Beaugrand would start to drop off the pace and was quickly dropped. While that news was still being digested, the leaders passed the lighthouse and suddenly Potter was looking out of sorts. Out of nowhere, Lisa Tertsch found herself leading the title race, running smooth out front with Bianca Seregni, Beaugrand pulled out with stomach issues, Potter by now a minute back.
Leonie Periault was flying through the field further back, but there was no stopping Tertsch who hit the blue carpet with joy and disbelief, taking the tape to become the 2025 World Triathlon Champion in unforgettable fashion, Seregni second, Lombardi third. A flying fourth for Leonie Periault saw her take the overall Series silver, a devastated Beth Potter fighting through the pain of a foot injury to take 15th in the race and third in the Series.
Into the Gong Matt Hauser was all clear on top of the men’s rankings, a maximum 3000 points from the three counting wins secured in style across the year putting him more than 200 points clear of nearest rivals Miguel Hidalgo and Vasco Vilaça. With a home finals and the pressure of chasing his country’s first men’s world title in 20 years, the Australian looked cool, calm and collected lining up, before locking in and absolutely blasting off the start, pulling into clear water with one of the most explosive swim starts we have ever seen.
It would set the tone for his race. A perfectly sized group of seven attacked the 40km bike working well together, Hauser content to find none of his title rivals in there, and actually drifting to almost a full minute off the leaders by the time they hit T2. As he nailed transition and emerged onto the run, the crowd began losing their collective minds at the prospect of an Aussie champion. The noise rose with every passing kilometre as Hauser began to build into the run, only Alessio Crociani able to go with him until the halfway mark, when it became the Matt march.
Further back, Spain’s David Cantero was blasting through the field and passed the Italian late on, but there would be no catching the leader, Matt Hauser able to drink in the moment as he entered the finish chute, lapping up the cheers of the crowd down the blue carpet, the tape aloft, the title his, Wollongong delirious. Miguel Hidalgo would run his way to fourth and overall second in the Series, Vasco Vilaça next over the line and securing the Series bronze, but there was no doubt who the moment, the day, the whole season belonged to, as Matt Hauser lifted the trophy for the first time in his career.
