Japan’s Takumi Hojo produced the perfect race to run away with his first World Cup victory in Yeongdo, South Korea, on Saturday morning. Great Britain’s Max Stapley stormed down the blue carpet to earn his first World Cup medal, after a huge battle with Germany’s Valentin Wernz who came away with the bronze.

The inaugural World Triathlon Cup Yeongdo got underway on Saturday morning and athletes were faced with challenging conditions as the air and humidity temperatures were high. The sprint distance course showcased stunning views of the Busan region as 54 men lined up to battle for points, medals and rankings.

Great Britain’s Max Stapley led the charge early on in the 750m swim. Stapley appeared to find his rhythm in the water immediately for the first portion of the World Cup race and Canada’s Aiden Longcroft-Harris was on his heels around the turns. It was carnage as the men swam around the second buoy with a lot less room separating them than the women’s race earlier today. Stapley, Takumi Hojo, Harris, Valentin Wernz and Trent Thorpe had the ability to have a fast swim in Yeongdo which set them up to exit the swim and lead the push out onto the bike course, consisting of 4-laps over 20-kilometres.

Japan’s Jumpei Furuya pushed really hard to close the gap and make contact with the lead group on the initial stage of bike as Wernz, Harris and Stapley started to have an impact on the race early on.

The chase group featured Brasil’s Kauê Willy and Mexico’s Olympian Irving Perez and were driving the group, around the tight turns and taking the corners fast, attempting to reign in the leaders.

Stapley was up front for a large part of the bike segment, motivating the group to work hard and push the pace. Australia’s Oscar Dart and Japan’s Kyotaro Yoshikawa were working hard to stick with the leaders. By the final lap on the bike the leaders had established a tremendous advantage on the field with over a minute gap on the chasers, as they pulled up into transition and put their feet to the pavement for the 5-kilometre run.

Tjebbe Kaindl, Stefan Zachäus, Hojo, Wernz and Stapley were the first men to lead the push onto the run followed by Yoshikawa, Daniel Dixon who made his World Cup debut in Yeongdo, Dart, Harris and Thorpe.

Hojo attacked immediately on the run course and continued to extend his lead on the field, getting faster across the course. The Japanese athlete maintained a remarkable pace to dominate the course and run away with his first World Cup victory.

The battle for medals was between Stapley and Wernz. Stapley was able to forge ahead, sprint down the blue carpet and beat the German to earn his first World Cup medal with silver in Yeongdo. Wernz, who was among the leaders for the entire race in South Korea, was awarded bronze after a stellar sprint-distance performance.

“I am very happy, I had a good run today. I am surprised that I had a 25-second lead. I am happy that today was the day that I got my first World Cup gold medal,” said Hojo.

“You can’t complain about two silvers in five days, I am absolutely buzzing. It was an awesome race, really hard from start to finish. I had in my head that I was going to make it a hard race today and swim from the front and it paid off for me.” said Stapley.

“I am super happy to come away with third place. The race was really hard and the heat was super challenging so I am happy with third place,” said Wernz.

Review the Elite men’s results.
Replay the race on-demand over on TriathlonLive.tv.