Now the second-highest Spanish female in the world rankings, Sara Guerrero Manso heads into Sunday’s Florianopolis World Cup wearing the prestigious number one and better placed than ever to score her first gold at this level.
Guerrero spearheads a trio of Spaniards in the top 4 this weekend, only home favourite Djenyfer Arnold coming between the number one, Miriam Casillas and Marta Pintanel. It was Casillas with the gold last weekend in Chile, Guerrero with silver the week before, and as Jeanne Lehair leaves the South American tour, all three Europeans will be eyeing further success in Brazil along with Arnold.
It's a flat, fast sprint-distance course ahead, the 750m swim off Jurerê Beach transitioning to a 20km bike of four laps around this famous costal neighbourhood, and onto a 5km run that will close out not just the medals here, but the 2025 World Cup season as a whole.
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Spanish in Transition
Rapid in the water, fluid in transitions, pushing on the bike and flying over the 5km, Sara Guerrero was one of the few to be able to put pressure on Lehair in Vina del Mar. Silver was her career-best result and coming after a debut podium in Chengdu back in May, could this be the race that sees her go one better and continue the Spanish run of form?
It was Miriam Casillas who was able to break their duck in women’s World Cup racing, gold in San Pedro de la Paz making her the country's first woman since Tamara Gómez 10 years ago to take a win. A quiet year by her standards is concluding in grand style, and she will feel that another punchy swim-bike breakaway here will be the route to further honours.
Brazil's power prospects
Djenyfer Arnold hails from the state of Santa Caterina just a few hours north of Florianopolis, guaranteeing some loud and proud support from the fans as she hits her first World Cup start line of the year since Huatulco in June. A trio of WTCS races since then have been solid, but for a woman with Series top 10s to her name, she will want to execute the race she knows she has in her to round out a tough year and hit that home podium.
Familiar names on the start line are another Brazilian, Vittoria Lopes, who has been testing out her middle-distance racing in between blue carpet cameos, and the USA’s Kirsten Kasper. Back in action and going well in last month’s Championship Finals for a first outing this year, the American is looking to enjoy her final hit out of 2025 along with Chile’s own superstar Barbara Riveros.
Still a U23 athlete, Barbara de Koning (NED) will know this race marks a prime opportunity for a first World Cup podium, and keep an eye out for the supremely talented young Slovakian Margareta Vrablova making her senior World Cup debut.
