As we continue our review of a blockbuster year, it would be remiss not to rewind to the fantastic week that was the Pontevedra World Multisport Championships. Across aquathlon, cross triathlon, cross duathlon, aquabike, duathlon and long distance triathlon (with several relays thrown in for good measure), you could hardly move in the city without bumping into another race, and each was even better than the last.
Nods must also go to the brilliant winter action in Cogne, the duathlon drama in Alsdorf and Zofingen, and the breathless duathlon racing at the Chengdu World Games. However Pontevedra was the high point of multisport in 2025. Join us as we recap the elite racing highlights of the week.
The first order of business was the duathlon. In a cut-throat final 5km, Benjamin Choquert (FRA) dropped the hammer to take a second world title over a stellar field. In a tactical race, Choquert’s final 5km was a full 15 seconds swifter than his split on the opening 5km run. Silver went to Arnaud Dely (BEL), an athlete that had already proven his running chops by racing at the European Road Running Championships just a few months earlier. WTCS medallist Antonio Serrat Seoane (ESP) then completed the podium.
There was a minor upset in the women’s race as European champion Maria Varo Zubiri (ESP) succumbed to Italy’s Giorgia Priarone (ITA). Varo Zubiri had led the way going into T1; in contrast to the men’s field, this represented the fastest split of the day. Priarone, though, was right behind her and then pounced on the second 5km run. The bronze medal went to Camille Laurent (FRA). One notable detail from both races was that the reigning world champions, Javier Martin Morales (ESP) and Marion Legrand (FRA), each missed out on the podium in 4th place.
Next up were the cross triathlon events. Here, we knew it would be close. After all, Felix Forissier (FRA) and Arthur Serrieres (FRA) had clearly established themselves as the world’s premier cross triathletes heading into the race with little to split them. The French pair duly broke away from the field to duel for the win. What we did not expect was that only 2 seconds would separate gold and silver.
In the end it was Forissier that got the better of his compatriot. World Cup medallist Kevin Tarek Viñuela Gonzalez (ESP) was the best of the rest and took home the bronze medal.
Whereas the men’s race was close, the women’s was a more cut-and-dry affair. Alizee Paties (FRA) broke her rivals on the bike with riding of the highest quality, building up a lead that was never truly threatened on the run. Marina Muñoz Hernando (ESP) brought home another medal for the home team in 2nd while the evergreen Barbara Riveros (CHI) took a tentative step forward in her return to elite racing with a bronze medal.
The cross duathlon events followed and it would have been understandable to expect similar podiums. On paper the discipline is pretty close to cross triathlon. However such notions quickly proved mistaken.
There were wholesale changes to both elite podiums. Thibaut De Smet (BEL) led Sebastian Carabin (BEL) and Arthur Forissier (FRA) home in the men‘s race. Meanwhile Anna Zehnder (SUI) took the tape ahead of Noemi Bogiatto (ITA) and Laura Gillard (AUS).
The off-road business done and dusted, we then turned to the shortest race of the Pontevedra championships: the aquathlon. Márton Kropkó (HUN) shone in the men’s race. Fresh off winning a maiden World Cup medal in Samarkand, Kropkó was in imperious form and stamped his authority over the field. He would go on to claim silver at the World U23 Championships in Wollongong later in the year.
Damian Suarez Costo (ESP) could not live with Kropkó’s pressure on the run, but could nonetheless be content with silver. Christopher Perham (GBR) wrapped up the top-3. Notably, Viñuela placed 4th, thereby narrowly missing out on medalling in two different disciplines.
One athlete that did manage the outstanding feat of taking home medals in different disciplines was Muñoz Hernando. After her cross triathlon silver, the Spaniard added a silver in the aquathlon. She could not, however, find a way past race winner Hanna Maksimava (AIN). Close behind, Jázmin Kropkó (HUN) secured another medal for Hungary and the Kropkó family.
The fun in Pontevedra then came to its conclusion with the World Long Distance Triathlon Championships. Entering the blue riband event, defending world champion Antonio Benito Lopez (ESP) was many punters’ favourite. They were right to consider him such. Although Benito arrived in T2 chasing the race leader, he came storming through with the best run of the day to win in style. The next men home were Dylan Magnien (FRA) and William Draper (GBR).
In the women's race, the 2024 gold and silver medallists were back and raring to go in Pontevedra. However they came up against the unstoppable force that was Marjolaine Pierre (FRA). Pierre was a whole 9 minutes faster than the next swiftest woman on the bike. Even in long distance triathlon, this was a jaw-dropping demonstration of supremacy. No one came close to troubling her thereafter.
Marta Lagownik (POL), the European Middle Distance Triathlon champion, eventually took the silver medal while the reigning champion Charlotte Clavel (FRA) settled for bronze.
In 2026, the World Multisport Championships will be heading to Abu Dhabi. It will take a lot to match the triumphant week enjoyed in Pontevedra, but with plenty of experience as a WTCS host and from welcoming the world for the WTCS Final in 2022, Abu Dhabi will doubtless deliver a tremendous championship.
