With Easter around the corner, several big names took the chance to open their seasons over the past weekend, with the likes of Vasco Vilaca, Gwen Jorgensen, Jolien Vermeylen and more all in action across a slate of Continental Cups. In addition, another of last year’s overall WTCS medallists impressed with a phenomenal half marathon performance. Find out all that went down in this week’s Monday Morning Mix.
Gulfport Americas Cup
With junior talents and NCAA stars on the start line, there was no shortage of American talent in Mississippi. To take home the gold medal, however, they would have to get through arguably Team USA’s greatest ever triathlete, Gwen Jorgensen (USA).
After an injury layoff in 2025, Jorgensen was making her first start of the year. Things did not quite go to plan initially, though, as she narrowly missed out on the front pack by mere seconds. Up ahead, Kelly Wetteland (USA) and Margareta Vrablova (SVK) set the pace on the bike, having been the second and third women out of the water. Zoe Adam (PUR), winner of recent World Triathlon Development Regional Cups, was also prominent in the lead pack.
There were six American women at the front heading into T2, but the 5km run was Jorgensen’s chance to strike back. The 2016 Olympic champion duly swept through the field with a field-leading 18:16 split. That was enough to see her past bronze medallist Vrablova. Wetteland, however, remained out of reach and soared to the first international win of her career. After a silver medal in La Paz earlier this month, the young American has started her season in great form and will be one to watch in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Mathis Beaulieu (CAN) scored a second win of the month – having also earned gold in La Paz – as he bowled over the young American duo Braxton Legg and Blake Bullard.
Bullard had led out the sprint distance swim (8:31), opening a 13 second gap to Darr Smith (USA). Beaulieu and Legg exited shortly after Smith and promptly made up the gap to the lone leader on the bike as part of the front group. The key to the race was on the run and here Beaulieu’s 16:13 split was enough to hand him the win by 28 seconds. Legg then defeated Bullard to take the silver medal. View the full results here.
Sante Fe Americas Cup
Elsewhere in the Americas, Giovanna Lacerda (BRA) was one half of a double Brazilian triumph in Argentina. A breakaway pack of nine women had whittled down the contenders in the sprint distance event with Lacerda well-placed among them. She had already opened her account for 2026 with a silver medal in Formosa and was hoping to go one better.
Although Daniela Moya Chamorro (CHI) handed her a real test on the run, Lacerda was able to break clear to win by 16 seconds. Mercedes Romero Orozco (MEX) rounded out the podium and further 29 second back.
Vinicius Avi Santana (BRA) impressed on his way to gold in the men’s race, utilising a 14:42 run split (the best of the day) to down Osvaldo Darell Zuñiga Fierro (MEX). Santana’s teammate Kauê Willy had been the top swimmer and opened up a handy lead to most of the field.
Santana was actually in the bottom half coming out of the water. He nonetheless made the large pack that subsequently formed around Willy before beating Zuñiga into 2nd place by 13 seconds. Mateo Mendoza Burgos (CHI) added the bronze medal to his 3rd place in Formosa from last month. View the full results here.
Quarteira Europe Cup
In light of the postponement of WTCS Abu Dhabi, several major hitters headed to Quarteira to open their seasons. Among them were WTCS medallist Vasco Vilaca (POR) and European champion and World Cup winner Jolien Vermeylen (BEL). While they went up against stacked fields, their class told out as the two stars won by comfortable margins.
Vermeylen got off to a perfect start in the standard distance event, leading the 1500m swim in a time of 18:16. Ten other women would make the front pack alongside her, with World Cup medallist Mathilde Gautier (FRA), Paris Olympian Maria Tomé (POR) and former World Junior champion Ilona Hadhoum (FRA) for company.
Tomé would push Vermeylen the hardest of the run and actually escaped up the road early on. In the end, though, the Belgian athlete had too much speed, her 33:38 10km split proving enough to reel in her Portuguese rival for a 19-second win.
While Tomé was denied, the home fans were treated to a gold by one of their own in the men’s race as Vilaca produced a no-nonsense display to win by 20 seconds.
World Cup medallist Márk Dévay (HUN) was the first man out of the water (16:30). Vilaca was right on his heels 6 seconds back in tied-sixth place with former World Junior champion João Nuno Batista (POR). Cognizant of Vilaca’s reputation on the run, Dévay tried to shake up the race on the bike, but the man that finished 3rd overall in last year’s WTCS was equal to his efforts.
On the run, Batista took over as the primary challenger to Vilaca. But there would be no denying Vilaca as he showed his younger compatriot how a world title-contender kills a race with a clinical 29:48 10km split. Batista’s silver medal nonetheless builds upon the silver he ended 2025 with at the Vina del Mar World Cup and bodes well for another season of progress. Shortly after, Dévay took 3rd in a strong display that paired a breakaway attempt with a promising run split. View the full results here.
Quarteira Europe Junior Cup
Regular readers of last year’s Monday Morning Mix will recognise the name Anouk Danna (SUI), as the young Swiss athlete hoovered up medals for fun. Based on this past weekend, it seems we should get used to seeing her name again this season after she dominated the first Europe Junior Cup event of 2026.
Field-leading bike and run splits saw Danna convert a 19 second deficit coming out of the water into a win by a massive 1:44. Her 17:09 5km split was particularly noteworthy and showed pace that would not have looked out of place at the sharp end of the senior race (albeit over half the distance). Candela Sánchez Touza (ESP) was the next athlete home while Kitty Scott took 3rd place.
The men’s race was altogether tighter, with 5 seconds separating gold and silver. Damian Suarez Couto (ESP) had led out of the water (8:34 for 750m), putting 15 seconds into his nearest rival. Indeed, only two athletes held within 20 seconds of the leader. Suarez did not manage to manufacture a lasting breakaway, however, as plenty of athletes made their way to the front on the bike.
Over the 5km run, Lucas Riola Delgado (ESP) pushed his compatriot, while Thibaut Rivier (SUI) was also in the reckoning. Suarez, though, timed his finishing kick best to secure the gold medal. Riola then put 10 seconds between himself and Rivier to take the bronze. View the full results here.
Africa Premium Cup Mossel Bay
Mossel Bay saw a clash of two previous Africa Cup winners. Zuzuana Michalickova (SVK) entered the race fresh off a win in Swakopmund. Jule Behrens (GER), however, had cruised to victory at the event prior in Troutbeck. The stage was therefore set for a clash, and their battle did not disappoint.
The early momentum swung in Michalickova’s favour, the Slovakian exiting second out of the water with a 22 second advantage over Behrens. Both, though, were a long way off the initial leader Caroline Theil (USA) who out-split Michalickova by 58 seconds. Behrens had the best bike split of the field as a pack of six merged at the front. Team World Triathlon member and home athlete Shanae Williams (RSA) was in this group.
Williams would go on to consolidate 3rd place as the 10km run soon became a battle between Michalickova and Behrens. Neither could break one another over the first of the two laps. In the end, a field-leading effort (35:57) by the Slovakian was enough to deny Behrens by 5 seconds.
After a gold and a silver in previous Africa Cup outings, Lasse Lührs (GER) rounded off his stint on the continent with another victory. Lührs was not the top athlete in the swim, bike or run, but he had a balanced race to ensure he controlled the standard distance event throughout.
He was the second fastest swimmer behind Adrien Toulet (MRI) and then the fourth fastest cyclist overall as part of a two-man breakaway with Paris Olympian Matthew Wright (BAR). With a comfortable lead in T2 over everyone other than Wright, Lührs did not need to over-exert himself on the run and settled for the second-best split of the day on his way to gold.
Wright held on for a well-earned silver some 17 seconds back. Bronze then went to the best runner of the day, America’s Zach Leachman who clocked 30:57 for the 10km. View the full results here.
Africa Junior Cup Mossel Bay
Ahead of the race, the favourites for gold in Mossel Bay were Africa Junior champion Maja Jeanne Brinkmann (NAM) and Taylor Foster (RSA), who had won back-to-back Africa Junior Cups. Both, however, were stunned by a virtuoso performance from Rachel O’Donoghue (ZIM).
Foster was the swim leader, clocking 10:18 for the 750m with Brinkmann 3 seconds back. At this stage, O’Donoghue was over 90 seconds in arrears and seemed out of the race entirely. Yet she came rampaging back on the bike, clocking the best split of the day by almost 2 minutes to join Foster and Brinkmann in the lead.
Foster had the best T2 of the trio and took the initial lead on the run. Brinkmann could not hold the pace and ultimately settled for bronze. But the South African could not shake O’Donoghue and the Zimbabwean’s 18:51 5km split (the best of the day) was enough to see her to gold by 7 seconds. Foster then took the silver medal.
Meanwhile, a three-man breakaway in the men’s race looked to have established who would claim the medals going into T2. That was until Nicholas Horne (RSA) came charging home.
Anthony Clayton (RSA), the recent winner in Swakopmund, led the swim by half a minute. He was soon joined on the bike by Africa Junior champion Nathan Max Centlivres Chase (NAM) and compatriot Ryan Viviers. Smart work by the leaders ensured they gained over a minute on Horne by the time the run started.
But Horne threatened to upend everything with a field-leading 15:55 run split. First he went past Centlivres Chase who slipped off the podium. Viviers was his next victim. Clayton, though, had enough of a margin to withstand Horne and hold on for gold. View the full results here.
Around the world
Last year could hardly have gone better for Leonie Periault (FRA) as she won WTCS Hamburg and placed 2nd overall in the WTCS. At the weekend, she served notice that she is in shape to match those feats by ripping a 1:09:25 half marathon in Berlin. As of the time of writing, that stands as the 87th best time in the world this year. When Periault opens her WTCS season in Samarkand next month, then, the rest of the field will have to hope she is not at the front coming out of T2.
Finally, over in Hungary, Csongor Lehmann (HUN) took home the national title over 10km. The WTCS medallist stopped the clock with a time of 29:57.