Last year at WTCS Hamburg, Leonie Periault (FRA) gave us one of the biggest surprises of the season when she handed Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) a first Series defeat in almost two years. If she is to repeat her gold medal this month, however, she will have to find her way past the joint-most successful woman ever in Hamburg.
With five medals in Hamburg, Laura Lindeman (GER) stands alongside Beaugrand as the most decorated athlete in the German city, and when the 2021 winner last appeared at the stop, in 2023, she came away with the bronze medal. Few athletes get a boost from a home crowd like Lindemann in Hamburg and as a result she could prove a major obstacle to Periault. Throw in our current Series leader and two of this year’s race winners, and the task of coming out on top in Hamburg looks a tall one indeed.
Who’s there?
Periault will be starting alongside Emma Lombardi for the French team while Lindemann will have no shortage of talent beside her in the German squad. World champion Lisa Tertsch (GER) is back to the site of her first ever WTCS medal, while fellow WTCS medallists Nina Eim (GER), Annika Koch (GER) and Tanja Neubert (GER) will all hope to impress on home soil. Julia Bröcker and Franka Rust complete the German line-up.
As a result, Periault and Lindemann could face a real challenge to even be the top finishers from their respective national teams. Their task is further complicated by the presence of Series leader Jeanne Lehair (LUX), who will push for a first ever medal in Hamburg, and Tilda Månsson (SWE), who arrives after winning in Yokohama and adding a silver medal in Quiberon.
Moreover, former world champion Beth Potter (GBR) is back after sitting out of WTCS Quiberon and seeing her Series lead change hands. Potter has an interesting relationship with Hamburg. It was there that she earned her first ever WTCS medal back in 2022 and she has made the podium every year since, but a first win has eluded her. Correcting that would all but guarantee a return of the Series leadership. Having prevailed against Periault in their Samarkand battle, the Brit will be confident of doing so again. Jess Fullagar and Sian Rainsley join Potter on the British squad.
Taylor Spivey (USA) is back racing in search of a tenth straight top-10 finish in the Series. She recently won a French Grand Prix race, beating Lehair, and could bring up the tenth top-10 with a medal. Gina Sereno, Kirsten Kasper and Erica Ackerlund start alongside her for the American team.
World Cup winners Sara Guerrero Manso and Miriam Casillas Garcia head up a large Spanish team, with Marta Pintanel Raymundo and Ana Carballo Gómez also starting. Japan will also send five women to Hamburg with Manami Hayashi, Sarika Nakayama, Mako Hiraizumi, Miyu Sakai and Kanae Takenaka all set to race.
Australia will have three women starting with World U23 champion Richelle Hill joined by two debutants: Haikou World Cup winner Sophie Malowiecki and former Oceania Junior champion Aspen Anderson. Italy have also entered three athletes, with WTCS medallist leading Carlotta Missaglia and Verena Steinhauser, as have Switzerland Switzerland (Cathia Schär, Nora Gmür and Alissa Konig), (New Zealand Nicole Van Der Kaay, Brea Roderick and Eva Goodisson), and the Netherlands (Barbara De Koning, Babette Rosmann and Robin Dreijling).
Meanwhile, plenty of teams will have double acts in Hamburg. Among them are Djenyfer Arnold (BRA) and Vittoria Lopes (BRA), Diana Isakova (AIN) and Valentina Riasova (AIN), and Maria Tomé (POR) and Mariana Vargem (POR).
Last but not least, the start list is enhanced by the presence of several athletes racing alone. Jolien Vermeylen (BEL) headlines this group after her recent maiden WTCS medal in Quiberon. World Cup medallists Roksana Slupek (POL), Petra Kurikova (CZE) Carina Reicht (AUT), Desirae Ridenour (CAN) and Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto (COL) deepen the start list, as does the recent Tiszaujvaros World Cup winner Fanni Szalai (HUN) who makes a much-anticipated Series debut. Zuzana Michalickova (SVK) then brings us to 55 women in total.
Who’s not there?
Three-time Hamburg winner Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) will be absent as she, like Alex Yee (GBR), tackles the Monaco Diamond League instead. Among the other notable absences are two other athletes to have previously won in Hamburg: Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR), currently ranked 7th in the Series, and Gwen Jorgensen (USA), currently ranked 17th.
Check out the full start list here and catch every moment in Hamburg live on TriathlonLive on 11th (individual) and 12th (relay) July.