The change did not happen until the start of this week, but Alex Yee (GBR), the defending Olympic champion, has assumed his place on the WTCS Alghero start list. As a result, we face the prospect of Yee, reigning world champion Matt Hauser (AUS) and T100 champion Hayden Wilde (NZL) at full strength and focus going head-to-head at the same race for the first time since 2024. And that is not all.
These three champions will have to find a way past the defending Alghero champion, the winner of the 2026 season opener in Samarkand, and the only man not called Yee to have beaten both Hauser and Wilde in the same race since 2023.
Over a two-lap 1.5km sea swim, a hilly nine-lap 40km bike and a four-lap 10km run, this will be a monumental coming together of talents. And it might just play a decisive role in determining the fate of this year’s world title. Catch all the action live on TriathlonLive and find out all you need to know of the favourites and their form below.
World title conversations
Hauser made a resounding statement as he steamrollered the field at his first WTCS outing of the year in Yokohama. More of the same in Alghero could augur for a very long year ahead for his world title rivals.
Nevertheless, Alghero was one of the few WTCS races Hauser did not win last year as Miguel Hidalgo (BRA) cast a spell on the world champion with an electrifying effort on the run. That day Hidalgo became the only man not called “Alex Yee” to have won a WTCS race in Sardinia and firmly established his credentials to beat Hauser in a world title fight. Having taken silver behind the Australian in Yokohama, the Brazilian will need to muster something special again this weekend.
We also have the third member of last year’s overall Series podium and the winner of the 2026 season opener present. Vasco Vilaca (POR) broke new ground with a win in Samarkand and seems set for a huge year. However, there is still work to do. Hauser had his number in 2025, winning all of their head-to-heads. To earn the world title, Vilaca will have to reverse that trend sooner rather than later. He will gun for sooner this weekend.
Taking no prisoners
It’s time to talk about Henry. Henry Graf (GER) is the only man to have beaten Hauser and Wilde in the same WTCS race since September 2024 (when Yee last accomplished it). A silver in Samarkand has already proven that Graf will not be a one-season wonder and it would be no shock anymore to see the WTCS Karlovy Vary winner chop down the three big beasts of men’s triathlon.
Speaking of whom, Wilde has twice been the silver medallist behind Yee in Sardinia and would sorely love a victory on the island. His T100 form has been nothing short of immense, and he did beat Hauser at WTCS Abu Dhabi at the start of 2025. After his bike crash last spring, though, his swim has not fired. That factor alone could prove critical.
Breakaways and thinned lead packs have been a trend in Sardinia. Last year's nine-man breakaway kept in the tradition with front group sizes of 18 in 2024 and 24 in 2023, while in 2022 2 men rode away from the remaining 33 in the lead group. Right now, this trend holding could play into Graf’s hands more than Wilde’s. Then again, maybe Wilde will have the power to ride down any breakaway.
Elsewhere, Csongor Lehmann (HUN) took his maiden WTCS medal in Cagliari in 2024, while Charles Paquet (CAN) is fresh off a first medal of his own in Samarkand. Expect both to be in the mix this weekend.
Run it back
Every time Yee has shown up to a WTCS race in Sardinia, he has left with the gold medal. With three wins, no one has a record on the island like him. Moreover, such was the way he floated round the run course in Yokohama en route to 5th place, no one will want to be near him coming into T2.
The Olympic champion will also be at the vanguard of a batch of extraordinary runners, although, interestingly, last year was the first instance the top male runner did not win in Sardinia. That day, David Cantero del Campo (ESP) took the top split but missed the podium behind the breakaway. Former world champion Vincent Luis likened Cantero’s run speed to a “cheat code” in his preview of the race and he has a WTCS Final silver to his name. As with Yee, few will fancy giving him a sniff of the lead group on the bike.
Last but not least we have Oliver Conway (GBR) and Hugo Milner (GBR) who lit up the run in Samarkand. If tradition is restored and fast runs pay off in Alghero, both could be in with a shout of a first ever Series podium. Whatever comes this weekend, then, one thing is for sure. It’s going to be fast.