Sunday 14 September sees the sixth stop of the women's World Triathlon Championship Series, and it is a historic first ever WTCS Karlovy Vary incoming. More recently home to some breathtaking World Cup action, one of the best-loved Olympic distance courses on the World Triathlon circuit now opens up to the pointy end of the 2025 World Championship race, with crucial ranking points on the line.
A home victory at the end of August in the French Riviera means world number one Cassandre Beaugrand is now focussed squarely on the Championship Finals Wollongong, her absence opening the door for the likes of race number one Leonie Periault (FRA) and Jeanne Lehair (LUX) to top up on their respective wins in Hamburg and Yokohama.
The tight and technical, 2-lap / 1500m Rolava Lake swim transitions into a 6.5km point-to-point bike section into downtown Karlovy Vary, then its 7 circuits of the hilly, demanding main 4.9km loop, before the 4-lap, 10km run to the tape.
Watch it all unfold from 10am on Sunday 14 September on TriathlonLive.tv
Pole position for prime-time Periault
Race number one Leonie Periault will want to build on the best season of her career to date, one that has seen her finish inside the top 5 on four occasions, leaving her just under 350 points off ranking leader Beaugrand.
Periault left herself work to do on the bike after a poor swim in the French Riviera, and then also left it late on the run to pass Lombardi and take bronze, but has the confidence in her firepower over 10km and on a course where she won back in 2022. Victory would leave her a tantalising 70 points off the top spot heading into Wollongong.
The woman who pushed Beaugrand all the way in France less than a fortnight ago was Jeanne Lehair. Taking the race to her rival very nearly paid off, but silver to go with Yokohama gold leaves Luxembourg’s star just 36 points behind Periault and with big goals of her own for the Championship Finals.
It was back in 2019 that Lehair and Beth Potter last raced here together, stomach issues resulting in a spectacular blow up from the former and seeing Potter clock a full four minutes faster over the 10km run. Expect nothing like that this weekend, even though Potter will be relishing taking it to her rivals over a tough Olympic distance challenge as she chases her first WTCS win since the 2023 Finals Pontevedra.
Tertsch on the search for run form return
Also on the hunt for her imperious best is Germany’s Lisa Tertsch. Winner in the season opener, bronze in Yokohama, since then she has gone 6th – 9th – 13th since a hot and testing World Cup win in Tiszaujvaros. The swim has been dialled right in, the bike looks on point, but the familiar bounce has been missing on the run. What Tertsch does know, though, is that there is still enough time to rediscover it for a big season finale.
Germany’s Nina Eim did look back in the groove in France as she took 6th place, and will be one to watch albeit in her first Olympic distance since taking 12th at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The same can be said for Taylor Spivey (USA) who has enjoyed her T100 forays this season and will therefore be well prepared for an Olympic distance battle off the back of her best WTCS finish (7th) in 18 months on the French Riviera.
Lombardi looks for rankings boost
For Emma Lombardi, third in the world last year for the second successive season, the overall podium will still be a real possibility with a big result this weekend. Building back from a difficult start to the year post-Olympics, the pain of 4th place in Paris would be banished with a big finish to 2025 and, after being closed down and knocked off the podium by Periault two weeks ago, the 23-year-old will have all the motivation she needs to bounce back stronger.
Expect the likes of Bianca Seregni (ITA), Olivia Mathias (GBR), Maya Kingma (NED) and Emma Jeffcoat (AUS) to string out the swim and bike as much as possible to put early pressure on the top-ranked athletes, while the likes of new European and Asian Champions Jolien Vermeylen and Yuko Takahashi return from their Olympic-distance successes in Istanbul.
WTCS KARLOVY VARY
14 SEPTEMBER | 10AM
FULL START LIST
WATCH ON TRIATHLONLIVE.TV
