As we head into the new WTCS season – and the last one in which it will formally be known as the WTCS – we do so with two distinct factions at the top of the men’s tree. When Samarkand makes its bow in the Series next month, one of these factions will have the chance to assert themselves over the rest of the field, while the other will watch from the sidelines. Find out all you need to know about the start lists below.
Who’s not there?
Let’s get this bit out of the way. World champion Matt Hauser (AUS), Olympic champion Alex Yee (GBR) and T100 world champion Hayden Wilde (NZL) are all absent. This trio forms the top of what can be considered the Establishment. Other members include 2022 world champion Leo Bergere (FRA) and 2023 world champion Dorian Coninx (FRA), both of whom will not be racing in Samarkand. But the Revolution is coming.
Who’s there?
After last season, a clear new faction has formed, led by the trio of Miguel Hidalgo (BRA), 2nd place finisher in the overall 2025 WTCS; Vasco Vilaca (POR), 3rd place finisher overall last year; and Henry Graf (GER), the surprise package of 2025 and winner of WTCS Karlovy Vary. Other top guns in this faction include double WTCS medallist Alessio Crociani (ITA) andWTCS medallist and 2024 World U23 champion David Cantero del Campo (ESP), among others.
Crucially, all the members of the would-be usurpers are pencilled in to race in Samarkand. They will therefore fight for the chance to get one over each other and gain a valuable early lead over the establishment in the rankings.
Vilaca, the only man of this new guard not born in the 21st century, is in search of a maiden WTCS win. Since the start of 2023, he has made a cool nine WTCS podiums; he will hope number 10 ends with him on the top step. After a consummate display to win the Quarteira Europe Cup at the weekend, he is certainly looking sharp.
Joining Vilaca on the Portuguese team will be World Cup medallists Miguel Tiago Silva (POR), Ricardo Batista (POR) and João Nuno Batista (POR).
Hidalgo was the man that pushed Hauser the closest in 2025 and blew him away with an astonishing maiden Series win in Alghero. Should the Brazilian hit such levels again, there is probably no one in the sport that can live with him. His teammate in Samarkand, Manoel Messias (BRA), cannot be overlooked either. Already the owner of multiple WTCS medals, Messias won back-to-back World Cups at the end of last year.
And then we come to the third prong at the sharp end of the new guard: Henry Graf (GER). He left the field in his dust in Karlovy Vary and has a claim to being the best cyclist in the Series. On a wind-exposed course like Samarkand, there will be a frantic dash to hold onto his rear wheel.
Graf will have WTCS race winner and Olympic relay champion Tim Hellwig for company on the German team, creating a double-punch equal to anything the Portuguese and Brazilian teams can muster. Jonas Osterholt, Chris Ziehmer and Valentin Wernz complete the German line-up.
If Graf is perhaps the best cyclist in the Series, David Cantero is arguably the best runner. After a maiden WTCS medal in Wollongong, he is now on the cusp of shouldering his way into the top trio of the new guard, and indeed the top of the sport. A win at the Lanzarote World Cup showed his form is currently on point and he will be a major threat in Samarkand. Fellow WTCS medallist Roberto Sanchez Mantecon (ESP) will accompany him, as will Andrés Prieto Villar (ESP).
Finally we arrive at Crociani. We did not see enough of the Italian last year, but what we did we could only enjoy. Two WTCS medals and a European title are career-defining years for some athletes. For Crociani, the sense is he is only getting started. He will race in Samarkand alongside Nicola Azzano (ITA).
All of the new guard, then, will be at the season opener. Should any of them build up a head of steam, the established order could be overturned and the champions of previous years left playing catch-up.
Moreover, there are plenty of further talents on the Samarkand start list. WTCS medallist Csongor Lehmann – an athlete that could also belong in the new guard being the same age as Vilaca – heads a formidable Hungarian squad. The experienced Bence Bicsák and Márk Dévay, so often the best swimmer in the field, join him. So, too, do double World U23 Championship medallist Gergely Kiss and last year’s Samarkand World Cup silver medallist Márton Kropkó.
Last year’s Samarkand winner, Maxime Hueber-Moosbrugger (FRA) is back to at last make his WTCS debut. It has been an uphill battle meeting the taxing requirements of the French federation (two World Cups win was not enough; a third in Tongyeong in October seems to have pushed the needle) but Hueber-Moosbrugger has made it. Given he knows exactly how to win in Samarkand, he will be one to watch.
Yanis Seguin, Jules Rethoret and Tom Richard comprise the rest of a well-rounded French team. Meanwhile Mathis Beaulieu (CAN), the bronze medallist in Samarkand, is also back in tandem with Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN) and Charles Paquet (CAN).
WTCS medallist John Reed will lead an American quartet containing Darr Smith, Chase McQueen and Seth Rider. Asian champion Takumi Hojo likewise is the name to watch from a Japanese quintet that also includes Kenji Nener, Aoba Yasumatsu, Takuto Oshima and Kazushi Jozuka.
Mitch Kolkman and Ian Pennekamp start for the Dutch team while Andree Buc and Diego Moya will be Chile’s representatives.
The final team to watch will be the Brits. The Samarkand World Cup winner in 2024, Connor Bentley, is an obvious name to track. But the form man is Oliver Conway, the World U23 champion, Conway finished 4th on his only previous WTCS outing in Karlovy Vary (which was also over the standard distance) and has won two World Cups from his two appearances.
Born in 2005, Conway (like João Nuno Batista) could even be part of the group that ultimately surpasses the new guard outlined above in the next cycle. Hugo Milner, Jack Willis and Max Stapley complete the British team.
Lastly, WTCS Weihai winner Max Studer will be the lone Swiss athlete. Other solo acts to note are World Cup medallists Maciej Bruzdziak (POL) and Callum McClusky (AUS), super cyclist Tjebbe Kaindl (AUT), and the home hopeful Jeremy Quindos (UZB).
All told, then, the absence of the Establishment does little to dampen the anticipation around WTCS Samarkand. The start lists can be found here and you can catch the racing live on TriathlonLive on 25th April.