After a few weeks in which racing across the WTCS and World Cup circuits has come thick and fast, we now find ourselves less than two weeks away from round five of this year’s WTCS. And with Hamburg next up, this helter-skelter summer of triathlon may be about to kick into a new gear altogether.
Home of the fastest ever sprint distance run splits in WTCS history, Hamburg has a well-earned reputation for speed. At this year’s race, the man that recorded the fastest 5km the sport has ever seen will be gunning for a third win in a row at the venue, yet he will have to find a way past the man that came out on top in both 2022 and 2023 before missing the subsequent two editions. The stage is therefore set for a major showdown, and you can find out all the key points from the men’s start list below.
Who’s there?
The winner of the past two instalments, Matthew Hauser (AUS), is back in search of a hat-trick. Hauser already triumphed at his first appearance of the Series in Yokohama, however a crash in Alghero has left him with ground to make up in the rankings. Indeed, as things stand, the world champion is not the highest ranked man on the Australian team.
That is fellow Yokohama medallist Luke Willian (AUS), who holds 4th place overall. Willian will look to maintain his status as the top Australian, and with the form he has already shown this year he will be confident of another high finish. Brayden Mercer, Callum McClusky and Luke Schofield comprise the rest of the Australian men attending Hamburg.
Hauser is not the only man in touching distance of a Hamburg triple. Hayden Wilde (NZL) notched two wins in 2022 and 2023 but has not been back since. Due to illness he has not yet raced in the WTCS in 2026, however he now has the chance to return to a venue that has traditionally been good to him. Saxon Morgan and Henry McMecking will join him as part of the New Zealand team.
Series leader Vasco Vilaca (POR) has had a sparkling record in Hamburg. Back in 2020, at the single-day world championship, he stunned plenty of onlookers by making the podium. Medals have since followed in the German city in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Yet a win has remained out of reach. Plenty, however, has changed this year, not least since Vilaca recorded his first ever Series win, and if anyone is to deny Hauser or Wilde their third wins, it could be him.
Vilaca’s teammates likewise will be champing at the bit to race in Hamburg. Ricardo Batista (POR) is in the form of his life having won back-to-back medals in Alghero and Quiberon, while João Nuno Batista (POR) won the World Junior title in Hamburg in 2023 and will relish a return to the course. With Miguel Tiago Silva also keen to stake his claim on the path to LA 2028, the Portuguese team could come away with multiple medals for the third straight race.
Dorian Coninx (FRA), who is fresh off a win in Quiberon, will look to make the podium in Hamburg for the first time in his career. Having shown just how good he can be over the sprint distance recently, he will be a face his rivals will hope not to see at the front.
Tom Richard and Yanis Seguin also start for France, while Nils Serre Gehri (FRA), the 2024 World Junior champion, makes a return to Hamburg similar to Batista’s; he finished 2nd at the World Junior Championships in 2023 and now steps up to make his Series debut.
Miguel Hidalgo and Manoel Messias will be ones to watch from the Brazilian team while Alessio Crociani (ITA) roared his way to a maiden medal in Hamburg last summer and will hope for more of the same. He will race in Italian colours alongside World U23 Championship medallist Euan De Nigro and Nicola Azzano, who logged a first ever WTCS top-10 with a breakthrough performance in Quiberon.
Among the larger contingents set to start in Hamburg are those of Spain and Britain. The former will be led by WTCS Final medallist David Cantero del Campo with Roberto Sanchez Mantecon, Antonio Serrat Seoane, Izan Edo Aguilar and Alberto Gonzalez Garcia all capable of vying for top positions.
The latter will have newly crowned European champion Oliver Conway as their primary hope for a medal. Hugo Milner, Jack Willis, Connor Bentley and Max Stapley have earned their spots in the ongoing British slugfest to even make WTCS start lists.
Hungary also has one of the bigger squads with Tiszaujvaros World Cup winner Csongor Lehmann leading the way. Márk Dévay (HUN) and Gyula Kovács (HUN) are set to join Lehmann in Hamburg. On a similar note, Team USA and Japan will have three men starting. The former will be represented by John Reed, Morgan Pearson and Seth Rider, the latter by Takumi Hojo, Aoba Yasumatsu and Kenji Nener.
Canada will be confident of high finishes in the men’s field as both of their starters head to Hamburg in good form. Charles Paquet won a maiden WTCS medal back in Samarkand while Tyler Mislawchuk comes into this race on the back of a win at the Huatulco World Cup.
Simon Westermann (SUI) and Maxime Fluri (SUI) will also be starting, as will World Cup medallists Vetle Bergsvik Thorn (NOR) and Diego Moya (CHI). In addition, Jérémy Quindos (UZB), Ian Pennekamp (NED), Tjebbe Kaindl (AUT), Denis Kolobrodov (AIN), Maciej Bruzdziak (POL) and Jawad Abdelmoula (MAR) comprise the remaining men that are the only entries for their respective countries.
Finally, we have the home team. Henry Graf, Tim Hellwig and Valentin Wernz are set to race for Germany and will target the first medal by a German man in Hamburg since Hellwig won in 2021. Hellwig claimed two World Cup medals earlier this year, while Graf made the podium in Samarkand. Both will therefore fancy their chances of stepping up to the challenge before what is expected to be a huge home crowd.
Who’s not there?
Hamburg is one of the few WTCS courses Olympic champion Alex Yee (GBR) has yet to crack, but his shot at gold there will be pushed for another year as he will be racing the Monaco Diamond League instead.
Other than Yee, European Championships silver medallist Michael Gar (GBR) is the only man missing from top-25 in the WTCS rankings. As such, we will see a packed field take to the start line in less than a fortnight, making this a must-watch event.
Catch every moment live on TriathlonLive with the individual races taking place on Saturday 11th July and the World Mixed Team Relay Championships coming a day later on Sunday 12th July. View the full start lists here.