World Triathlon

Not to be melodramatic, but the WTCS Finals in Torremolinos were rather good. After a season of fantastic racing across five previous Series stops, as well as the electrifying Paris Olympic Games, the best triathletes in the world came together to deliver the captivating finale the 2024 WTCS deserved. Both the women’s and men’s races had their fair share of moments in which heads were scratched, eyebrows were raised and jaws were dropped. And that is not to mention the excitement also seen across the U23, Junior, Para and relay events. In this article, we will take a look at five of the many talking points to emerge from the WTCS Final, plus a small bonus point that has to be addressed.

The trend lives on

Ever since Henri Schoeman (RSA) charged past a stumbling Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) to win the 2016 WTCS Final in Cozumel, a trend has held that the winner of the men’s Series Final has claimed the gold medal having not won a WTCS race in the same season. Kristian Blummenfelt’s 2021 triumph in Edmonton is the only instance since 2016 in which a man has won the Final after winning another WTCS race that year.

Heading into Torremolinos, the smart money was on the trend being broken by Blummenfelt’s successor as Olympic champion. After all, Alex Yee (GBR) had not lost a world level race all year and arrived on the back of a superlative victory at WTCS Weihai. The trend, however, is not so easily dismissed.

In the biggest win of his career so far, Hayden Wilde (NZL) powered to a sensational gold medal. He produced a near-perfect race with his success largely built upon his work as part of the five-man breakaway. Having not won a WTCS race since July 2023, Wilde thus upheld the male WTCS Final pattern. Moreover, he made another piece of Finals history. His winning margin of 62 seconds stands as the largest ever at a men’s WTCS Final; the previous best stood at 20 seconds. Wilde’s win, then, was significant in more ways than one.

The unbreakable streaks

If the modern history of the men’s WTCS Finals has been a story of rotating winners, the women’s Series is in a different place. By claiming gold and silver, respectively, in Torremolinos, Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) and Beth Potter (GBR) cemented their iron-grip on the podium.

Potter has earned five medals from five world level races in 2024. For her part, Beaugrand finishes the year with four wins from four. As a result, they have extended their WTCS medal streaks that date back to Cagliari 2023 when Beaugrand finished 4th and Potter placed 6th. Since then, Potter has accrued 8 WTCS medals (of which 3 were gold) and Beaugrand has taken 7 medals (of which 5 have been gold). Note, these numbers do not include the Olympic Games.

Looking back at the history of the women’s WTCS, Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR), Flora Duffy (BER) and Emma Moffatt (AUS) share second longest medal streaks with 8 apiece. Right now, Beaugrand sits in tied 3rd place with Katie Zaferes (USA). While the pair still have a way to go to catch Gwen Jorgensen’s record of 18 straight medals, their ongoing streaks highlight how they have dominated the Series lately. When we factor in that no one else has ever won more than 4 medals in a row, Beaugrand and Potter can consider themselves in rarefied company indeed.

We need to talk about Hugo

When Hugo Milner (GBR) arrived in T2 at the WTCS Final, it was understandable that he did not command a lot of attention. Being almost 3 minutes behind Wilde’s lead pack and over a minute behind the chase group, Milner was barely in the race. Then he did something ridiculous.

Over the course of the 10km run, he climbed all the way up to 10th place, logging the best WTCS finish of his nascent career. The story, though, is his split. He clocked 28:47 in the third discipline, a full 30 seconds faster than Alex Yee. Let that wash over you for a second. On the same course, against the best runner in the sport who had to throw everything he had at the race to protect his world title hopes after being put on the back foot by the breakaway, Milner was a full half minute faster. Wilde was a further 12 seconds slower albeit having taken the time to luxuriate in his hard-earned victory. Milner’s speed is no surprise. He has clocked remarkable times at multiple races this season and his performances befit an athlete with international experience in cross country. Nevertheless, he found a new level yesterday as he ripped the fastest ever run at a WTCS Final.

We therefore have to talk about Hugo. This time last year, he claimed a maiden World Cup win in Miyazaki. Unsurprisingly, that gold medal came off the back of a tremendous run split. At the time, the question to be asked was whether Milner would be able to translate his speed to the WTCS. Looking ahead to 2025, the question arguably concerns how many races it will take for him to land on the podium.

To break down his Torremolinos performance further, he exited the water only 1 second behind Yee. Milner then lost 9 seconds in T1 and missed the initial lead pack on the bike. Notably, early power on the bike was also a problem for him back at WTCS Cagliari. In the big picture, though, he only has a small problem to correct as his swim is essentially good enough to make the podium while it is fair to say his run is also up to scratch. Thus, when the 2025 WTCS gets underway, Hugo Milner might soon become the name on everyone’s lips.

The glorious farewells

A different 2025 awaits two legends of the sport. WTCS Torremolinos marked the final appearances of former world champions Vicky Holland (GBR) and Vincent Luis (FRA), and they certainly signed off in style. Having won the European title a month earlier, Holland produced a vintage display to seal 4th place in Torremolinos. The 2016 Olympic bronze medallist made the lead group out of the water and consolidated her position on the bike. She had a slightly iffy T2 by her own admission but then reeled in her rivals on the run to rise through the field.

Meanwhile, Luis rolled back the years as he worked tirelessly as part of the five-man breakaway in the men’s race. His efforts lifted him to 8th place on the day and 7th overall in the Series standings, successfully capping his comeback season after an injury-hit 2023. Ever the team player, his work on the bike also helped Leo Bergere (FRA) to the silver medal in Torremolinos.

Holland made her first WTCS start in Sydney back in 2010 while Luis’ Series debut came in Kitzbuehel a year later. In the time since, the pair have grown into two of the defining faces of the sport and, having driven triathlon’s growth through their battles with their contemporaries, they leave the WTCS in a far stronger place than that in which they found it.

Double duty

Over the years, the Norwegian team has developed a reputation for toughness, in both training and racing, that few can match. The latest manifestation of this was to be found at the WTCS Final as Sebastian Wernersen took on a brutal double. On Thursday, he raced at the World U23 Championships, claiming 13th place. A mere 72 hours later, he was back for more at the WTCS Final. In a nice piece of numerical symmetry, he finished 31st.

Perhaps the chance to race on the course in the U23 race gave Wernersen valuable insights ahead of the Final. Impressively, he did not shirk from getting stuck into the Final. Wernersen’s Norwegian tri-suit was a frequent sight at the front of the chase group as he tried to use his strength on the bike to bring back the breakaway. 

Elsewhere, Emma Lombardi (FRA) was another to take on a surprising double. Having finished 3rd in the WTCS Final on the Saturday evening, she was up bright and early to race in the World Mixed U23-Junior Relay Championships on the Sunday morning. There was no thought to resting as she anchored Team France to another gold medal and hopefully now she has had the chance to celebrate her success.

Bonus talking point: the world champions

We could not really go through all of this without giving Cassandre Beaugrand and Alex Yee their dues. Both survived scares at the WTCS Final, with Beaugrand veering wildly off course in the swim and having to rise from last place and Yee facing the Wilde-led breakaway. Both found the solutions they needed to secure their world titles.

Furthermore, both have been worthy champions after phenomenal seasons. If we are to be pedantic, Yee’s bronze medal in Torremolinos denied him a perfect season. Similarly, Beaugrand did manage the perfect year in terms of wins, although her Hamburg win was only worth 750 points as a sprint distance event and so she did not log a perfect year in terms of points. However, the fact that perfection is even a realistic target for the pair is a signifier of how impressive they have been. Indeed, they were the only athletes to win multiple WTCS races this season and were truly thrilling to watch. Although they will have plenty of strong opponents to confront in 2025, it will be a brave call to bet against them as their era might only be getting started.