The world champions were out in force. As was to be expected, the WTCS opener in Samarkand attracted plenty of stars, not least through 2023 and 2025 world champions Beth Potter and Lisa Tertsch. Over in Singapore, Hayden Wilde and Matthew Hauser had a showdown of their own at the first round of this year’s men’s T100. Meanwhile, Alex Yee played his part in a historic day for running as a pacer at the London Marathon. Read on to find out how these stars fared in this week’s Monday Morning Mix.
Torremolinos Europe Cup
But first, a little love for the racing not to have already appeared among our coverage over the weekend. A last-minute change saw the Torremolinos Europe Cup held as a duathlon, a move that ostensibly favoured World Cup winner and Austrian 5km record holder Carina Reicht. However, Reicht would not have things her own way.
A 2.5km run replaced the sprint distance 750m swim. Reicht shared the lead into T1 (7:45) alongside 2024 World Junior champion Ambre Grasset (FRA), serial Europe Junior Cup winner Anouk Danna (SUI) and Germany’s Julia Bröcker. They formed the core of a select group that asserted themselves at the front on the bike. Try as she might on the final 5km run, though, Reicht could not shake her younger rivals.
In fact, it was Grasset that managed to pip the Austrian in a photo finish, handing the current European Junior champion a first senior international win. Coming home 8 seconds behind Reicht was Danna. Already the winner of this year’s Europe Junior Cup in Quarteria, this was Danna’s first senior international start and thus represented a very promising step forward. For her part, Reicht will also have plenty of positives to take from her outing – such as a field-leading 16:12 5km run split – as she builds towards World Cup and WTCS action.
Gold in the men’s race went to Louis Vitiello (FRA) as he backed up his recent win in Monte Gordo. As with the women’s event, it came down to a photo finish and once again a French World Junior champion was in the mix, this time Tristan Douche (FRA), the current title holder. Douche actually led the opening run (6:54). Vitiello, however, was part of a large group right on the youngster’s shoulder.
The front group only grew on the bike, leaving Vitiello to out-duel Douche for the win on the run. The fastest run actually went to Jasper Ortfeld (GER). The German athlete ripped a 14:17 split (1 second faster than Vitiello) to finish in 3rd place. View the full results here.
Torremelinos Europe Junior Cup
The run of French successes and photo finishes continued in the junior event, with Rosalie Gallant (FRA) edging out Candela Sánchez Touza (ESP). Final 5km run splits of 17:25 moved Gallant and Sánchez clear of their pursuers but neither could free themselves from the other’s attentions. Having been neck-and-neck for the whole race, they would finish with identical times, with Gallant being awarded the victory. Adar Haya Kurant (ISR) finished 3rd.
Then, in the junior men’s race, at last a bigger margin of victory: a whole 4 seconds separated gold from silver. This was a race dominated by the home team, with Spanish athletes filling five of the top-6 positions. Xavi Cabanilles Añó (ESP) had led the first run in 7:10 and was comfortably placed in the large lead pack. However, a slower T2 put him on the back foot and opened the door for Damian Suarez Couto (ESP).
A superb 14:40 5km run, also the best of the day, proved enough for Cabanilles to overhaul his teammate. Dominik Ivančík (SVK) then broke up the procession of home athletes by taking the bronze medal a mere 2 seconds behind Suarez. View the full results here.
Samarkand World Para Cup
In Samarkand, the latest stop of the World Para Cup ran in tandem with the season opener of the WTCS, producing some impressive performances.
Women’s winners
- PTS2: Martina Abaterusso (ITA)
- PTS3: Anna Plotnikova (AIN)
- PTS4: Kübra Dere (TUR)
- PST5: Irina Grazhdanova (AIN)
- PTVI: McClain Hermes (USA)
McClain Hermes had finished 5th in Samarkand on her previous outing two years ago. She put that right with a commanding showing on her return. A superb swim earned her a lead she would never surrender, even as she was out-split on the bike and run. Hermes placed 4th at the 2025 World Championships, her best ever result at the highest level, and this early win in the season should help to maintain her momentum going into this year’s showpiece in Pontevedra.
Men’s winners
- PTWC: Semen Radaev (AIN)
- PTS2: Vasilii Egorov (AIN)
- PTS3: Daniel Molina (ESP)
- PTS4: Andrey Tolstikov (AIN)
- PST5: Ugurcan Ozer (TUR)
- PTVI: Lazar Filipovic (SRB)
Reigning Paralympic champion Daniel Molina was the pick of the men’s performers in Samarkand. At his 2026 season opener, Molina was the top swimmer, like Hermes, albeit with a much slenderer gap to his chasers. He then came under pressure on the bike as silver medallist Viktor Chebotarev (AIN) took the lead thanks to a huge effort over the 20km.
Yet an athlete as experienced as Molina was never likely to panic. So it proved as he uncorked a 18:54 5km run split to win by over 2 minutes. Last year the Spaniard had to settle for bronze medals at the World and European Championships. He is hungry to turn those to gold in 2026 and the form he showed in Samarkand will give him plenty of encouragement. View the full results here.
WTCS Samarkand
After an enthralling tussle with Leonie Periault (FRA) on the run, Beth Potter (GBR) came through to claim the first gold of the 2026 WTCS. The swim left the field in pieces after Bianca Seregni (ITA) and Tilly Anema (GBR) laid waste to the 1500m (each clocked 18:18). A breakaway by Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) then enlivened the bike.
It was Potter, however, that rose above the rest to issue a real statement of intent for the coming campaign, and with three wins from her past four Series starts, she finds herself in some of the form of her life. Jeanne Lehair (LUX) rounded out the podium.
Over in the men’s race, a new challenger emerged to the Hauser-Yee-Wilde triumvirate as Vasco Vilaca (POR) powered to a first-ever Series win. He was pushed all the way by silver medallist Henry Graf (GER), an athlete who also cannot be overlooked for a place on the overall podium this year, after Márton Kropkó (HUN) was robbed the chance to defend a hard-earned lead by injury.
With Charles Paquet (CAN) also on the podium for the first time, several new faces really stepped up in Samarkand. The absent champions will therefore have an almighty task on their hands to get back on top when they return. View the full results here.
Singapore T100
While Vilaca prevailed in Samarkand, muddying the waters when it comes to predicting the WTCS champion, there is no doubting the favourite in the T100. At this point in time, there hardly seems to be an athlete more perfectly suited to the format than Hayden Wilde (NZL).
He left the water only 9 seconds behind the leader, silver medallist Sam Dickinson (GBR), before unleashing a monster bike split to surge into the lead. His time of 1:51:32 was over 2 minutes ahead of the next best cyclist and basically represented a cheat code. On a day when everything went right for Wilde, even a rogue water bottle bouncing from its carrier landed on his saddle for him to snaffle.
From there, no one was going to touch Wilde; a 1:01:53 run split, the second-best of the day, made sure of that. He thus continues his unbeaten streak in the T100 and looks to be the odds-on favourite to defend his series crown. Mika Noodt (GER) took the bronze medal, while WTCS champion Matthew Hauser (AUS) crossed in 5th place. View the full results here.