WTCS Karlovy Vary and the remarkable victories of Georgia Taylor-Brown and Dorian Coninx stole the show at the weekend. At the same time, an athlete hoping to pass Taylor-Brown at the WTCS Final impressed in Asia, a European Junior champion stormed to gold in Africa, and a pair of crazy finals went down to the wire in Europe. Find out all that happened in this week’s Monday Morning Mix.
Europe Triathlon Challenge Long Distance Triathlon Championships Almere-Amsterdam
Kyra Meulenberg (NED) powered to the latest European title on offer courtesy of field-leading bike and run splits. The Dutch athlete had been the eighth athlete out of the water before uncorking times of 4:36:19 for the 180km bike and 2:54:47 for the 42km run. With this being Meulenberg’s first time racing under national colours, it was quite the start to her international career.
Barbora Besperát (CZE) crossed 2:41 behind in 2nd place after almost matching Meulenberg’s run split, while last year’s champion Morena Stevens (EUR) came home in 3rd place.
Further home success came as Milan Brons (NED) downed Denmark’s Thor Bendix Madsen to win by 60 seconds. Niek Heldoorn (NED), the eventual bronze medallist, was the first out of the water (48:08 for 3.8km) with Brons and Madsen over a minute behind. Madsen subsequently left both trailing with the second-best bike split of the field and led Heldoorn into T2 by over a minute.
Brons, however, was not done and gradually reeled in his two rivals. A 2:38:14 marathon, the fourth best of the field, put over 3 minutes into Madsen and over 6 into Heldoorn, securing the win. Having placed 3rd previously, this was a major breakthrough from Brons, but with the younger Madsen and Heldoorn making the European podium for the first time, he will know defending his title will be a serious challenge. View the full results here.
Asia Cup Cholpon-Ata
Having opted against lining up at the last round of the WTCS ahead of the Series Final, Diana Isakova (AIN) maintained her race sharpness by dominating the latest Asia Cup event. The World Cup winner shot into a massive lead in the swim, stopping the clock at 10:22 as she exited the 750m. For reference, the next quickest athlete was Sofia Tikhonova (AIN) with 10:58.
Isakova would be caught by a group led by Tikhanova, but she nonetheless led into and out of T2. A field-best 16:45 5km split was then enough to see her home in 1st place by 74 seconds. After three straight top-10s in the WTCS, in which she has improved her position each time, Isakova is certainly hitting top form and could be a dark horse for a medal in Pontevedra. Iana Chenskaia (AIN) followed in 2nd place while Tikhanova held on for the bronze medal.
The men’s race saw Daryn Konysbayev (KAZ) take the win after holding off Grigory Antipov (AIN) on the run. After Pavel Sorokin (AIN) stretched the field in the water (9:25 for 750m), a large front pack of over twenty men came together on the bike. Konysbayev was one of the last men to make the lead group and made sure to consolidate his position over the 20km.
Sorokin would also lead out onto the run, but Konysbayev soon passed him. Replacing Sorokin, Antipov emerged as the closest challenger to Konysbayev. Yet he too would fall by the wayside as the athlete from Kazakhstan ripped a 15:20 5km split to win by 14 seconds. Aleksei Petrovskii (AIN), the fastest cyclist of the day, then followed Antipov over the line in 3rd place. View the full results here.
Africa Cup Monastir
A German double gold was the big headline in Tunisia, with Felipa Herrmann leading the way in the women’s race as she earned a maiden international victory. The small field mostly stayed together despite having come under pressure from Kanae Takenaka (JPN) and Sara Crociani (ITA) in the water, and Herrmann closed a 20 second deficit from the swim to arrive in T2 as one of the leaders. Takenaka, however, encountered trouble on the bike and fell behind.
Over the 5km run, Herrmann remained tied to teammate Sophie Gießmann (GER) and Carlotta Bonacina (ITA). It was only with a massive late surge that she managed to break clear before holding on to win by 6 seconds. In the sprint for silver, Bonacina then held off Gießmann by 1 seconds. Meanwhile, the fastest runner, Takenaka, had to settle for 6th place on a day that promised so much more.
It has been a minute since we have seen Kjell Arved Brandt (GER) feature prominently on the international stage, however in Monastir the 2025 European Junior champion showed signs of hitting top form once more.
While Nathan Lessmann (FRA) and Jonas Osterholt (GER) monstered the swim, Brandt exited in 7th place and was part of the pack that reeled in the two early leaders. The pack kept growing as additional riders bridged up to it, but Brandt looked comfortable around his more experienced rivals.
Then, on the run, he showed exactly why he is considered one of Germany’s most exciting young talents in the sport as he produced a 5km split of 14:03 to win by 17 seconds. Luca Fahrenson (GER) made it two German men on the podium in 2nd place while Italy’s Riccardo Cultore sneaked past Lessmann to take the bronze after a slower T2 proved fatal for the Frenchman’s podium hopes. View the full results here.
Africa Junior Cup Monastir
If the senior podiums in Monastir had a rather European flavour, the junior races saw plenty of domestic and regional athletes flourish. In the women’s event, Saleha nerddjes Berrached (ALG) prevailed over Tunisian racer Dhifallah Eya after an almighty tussle. Eya was the top swimmer in the sprint distance event, clocking 12:07 to Berrached’s 12:13.
The pair logged identical times through T1 before turning a lead over almost a minute into one that neared 3 minutes on the bike. Eya ultimately put 12 seconds into Berrached in the second discipline too in what looked to be a crucial move.
Berrached, however, turned the tables on her rival. With a rock-solid run split, she crossed in 1st place, 32 seconds ahead. Eya settled for the silver medal while Dalia Aidouni (ALG) completed the podium.
The gold and silver medals were reversed in the men’s race as Mohamed Amine Khemais (TUN) sparkled with a solo win. A winner at the Yassine Hammamet Junior Cup three months ago, Khemais was the first athlete out of the water in Monastir (10:09) and added the best bike split of the field (27:18) to ensure he arrived in T2 with a lead surpassing the minute mark.
Mohamed billal Dehbi (ALG) and Ala Saidane (TUN) headed up the chase, but they failed to make a dent into Khemais’ lead on the run as he won by 78 seconds. Instead, Dehbi and Saidane had plenty to focus on with one another and shadow-boxed their way around the 5km. With Dehbi taking 2nd place by 7 seconds, the pair ensured that Algeria and Tunisia each ended the weekend with a medal of every colour. View the full results here.
Europe Junior Cup Zagreb
Further junior action followed in Croatia, albeit this time over a two-day multi-round super-sprint format with semi-finals and finals to navigate. In the women’s final, Léa Reviglio (FRA) managed to withstand a fierce challenge from last week’s Derry Europe Junior Cup winner Korinna Katona (HUN) to win by 10 seconds. Reviglio was the top cyclist of the final, clocking 20:01 over 13.3km in a game-changing solo attack.
Katonna would out-run Reviglio by 23 seconds over the 2.5km (8:40 for the top split of the field), but it was not enough to catch the French youngster. Reviglio therefore added a gold to the silver and bronze Europe Junior Cup medals she had already claimed in 2026. Ava Guedeu-Lefeuvre (FRA) joined her countrywoman on the podium as she collected the bronze medal.
The men’s final could not have been any closer as Nik Vučko (SLO) and William Pridden (GBR) crossed in a photo finish with identical times, with Hungary’s Dániel Németh only a second back. Németh had been the second man out of the water, but unlike the women’s race the field stayed together. Indeed, the tension only ratcheted up as first T2 and then the finish line drew nearer.
The large pack of contenders slowly thinned until only four remained and the blue carpet was in sight. Vučko, who finished with the top run split in 7:26, kicked on. But Pridden and Németh, who both clocked 7:28, were equal to his effort. In the end, the Slovenian was adjudged the victor with Pridden settling for the silver over Németh. View the full results here.
WTCS Karlovy Vary
And then we came to the big one. At the final round of the regular WTCS season, Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) and Dorian Coninx (FRA) roared to victory on the back of daring breakaways on roads that were more ice-rink than asphalt in places. Taylor-Brown’s success came after blasting up the opening climb alongside Taylor Spivey (USA), with only Therese Feuersinger (AUT) of the already thinned lead group able to keep pace. That trio would go on to put 2:31 into a chase pack of six athletes that contained last year’s winner Beth Potter (GBR) and world champion Lisa Tertsch (GER).
Although Spivey took the lead out of T2, Taylor-Brown passed her on the first of four run laps, extending her lead with every kilometre thereafter. Spivey held on for a second successive silver medal in Karlovy Vary while Tertsch had the best run of the chasers to overhaul Feuersinger and match her bronze medal from last year.
In the men’s race, Coninx found himself as part of a breakaway quartet alongside fellow world champion and teammate Leo Bergere (FRA), Tjebbe Kaindl (AUT) and Márk Dévay (HUN). Four would soon become three, however, as Kaindl launched a bold final move on the bike to gain precious time heading into T2.
This left Coninx in a bind. On the one hand he had to chase down the ever-improving Austrian. On the other, he had to meter out his effort in the knowledge that Alex Yee (GBR) had emerged from transition as if launched from a cannon. The wily Coninx nonetheless timed his run to perfection to pass Kaindl and finish a mere 10 seconds ahead of Yee, who out-split the Frenchman by 1:48 over 10km. Completing the podium was an ecstatic Kaindl as he took home a first ever Series medal. View the full results here.