Having pored over the average performance stats of the leading lights in the women’s WTCS, today it is the turn of the men. After eight rounds of racing, including the recent thrilling finale in Wollongong, we have plenty of data points with which to assess the best athletes from the 2025 Series.
In this article, you will see how Matthew Hauser was the pick of the bunch, but also how his margin for error at the top was perilously thin. You will see where the cut-off point fell between the medal contenders and the next tier of athletes, but also how close the chasers are to making the step up to the big time. And you will see how the top-10 is not quite the boundary it seems.
The champion
There are no two ways about it. This was Matthew Hauser’s year and his stats more than back that up. An average swim position of 1.6 (as in, he exited the water in 1.6th place on average across all of his swims) was the joint-best of the competition. Note, we use average position as the primary metric here as positions are always relative to other athletes, whereas time-based metrics (such as average time behind the leader) can be slightly skewed by the differing sprint and standard distance courses used throughout the Series.
Hauser was then the best athlete in T1 and T2, with an average position of 2 in each. His worst average position actually came on the bike; here, his number stood at 11.7. For those that read the analysis of the women’s top-10 yesterday, you will already know that 11.7 is better than almost all of the best athletes in the top-10 of the women’s Series, highlighting how Hauser was no slouch on the bike.
To round things off, Hauser had an average run position of 2.9, the best in the Series by a hair’s width. It therefore does not take much insight to dissect Hauser’s stats. When you’re the best on average at three of the four components of the race, chances are you will win the Series.
Comparing to 2024
One interesting point to raise is by just how much Hauser improved from 2024 to 2025. Last year, the Australian placed 8th overall in the Series. His numbers were good, which made sense as a race winner over the sprint distance, but he had not yet broken through over the standard distance and there was work to do.
Over the winter, he clearly did the work. In every single facet of the race, Hauser was a world ahead of where he was in 2024. His best discipline in each season was the swim, but he turned a strong average position of 3.4 into his dominant 1.6. His T1 was a little sloppier last year, averaging a position of 16.4. Similarly, his bike average of 31 did not suggest it was a great strength. A T2 average of 7.2 has also been improved upon while his run average of 8 signified an athlete that was not yet a consistent medal contender. In 2025, the situation was radically different.
In all honesty, it is hard to see how Hauser can further improve upon his 2025 standard. One thing that may drive him to further levels is the potential return of 2024 world champion Alex Yee. On his way to last year’s world title, Yee averaged a position of 19.2 in the swim. In 2024, that was enough to always keep him within touching distance of the lead pack. In 2025, with what was a slightly more aggressive swim across the board, such a position might have been a little more vulnerable to missing the front group.
However, Yee was superb in transition, averaging a position of 1.5 in T1 and T2. That would have made up precious seconds this year, just as it did in 2024. In between, he averaged a position of 8.5 on the bike, highlighting how he has become one of the strongest cyclists in the field. To round things off, Yee’s average run position was 1.2. Yee, then, can certainly go toe-to-toe with Hauser if he is at his best. Should both athletes hit the same - or even higher - levels next year, the race to the 2026 world title will be an incredible sight to behold.
The overall podium
The battle between Miguel Hidalgo (2nd) and Vasco Vilaca (3rd) was one of the best parts of the 2025 WTCS. The difference between them was so slim, a fact that was reflected in their proximity in the rankings. When all was said and done, only 79 points split the pair. Moreover, their averages were also practically identical.
Hidalgo had the upper hand in the swim, taking an average position of 7.6 to Vilaca’s 9.8. The Brazilian was also marginally better in transition, recording an average of 3.5 in both T1 and T2 while Vilaca managed averages of 4 and 4.2. Furthermore, Hidalgo had a slightly better bike average. Whereas Vilaca’s average position stood at 9.5, Hidalgo’s came in at 8.3. It was on the run, however, that Vilaca turned the tables, averaging a position of 4.6 to Hidalgo’s 4.9.
Given Hidalgo was better in more disciplines, it makes sense how he pipped Vilaca to 2nd overall. Both, meanwhile, attained the phenomenal achievement of averaging a position under 10 in every discipline. No one else has managed that in either the 2024 or 2025 campaigns. After neither man made the overall top-10 in 2024 (although Vilaca did in 2023), they appear to be on rocket-propelled trajectories and could cause Hauser all kinds of problems in 2026.
The nearly men
It is rather harsh to call the upcoming cohort of athletes “nearly men” after each enjoyed wonderful seasons, yet there is a degree of truth to it. After all, each was only one factor away from challenging for the overall podium. Henry Graf (4th) is a perfect case in point. With average positions of 6.3 (swim), 4.4 (T1), 4.8 (bike), 4 (T2) and 10.2 (run), he was fantastic across the board. Based on average performance, he was the best cyclist in the top-25 of the men’s Series. To go with that he was one of the best swimmers and among the swiftest in transition.
The run was the only thing that stopped him from joining Hidalgo and Vilaca in having his average positions in all disciplines under 10. Still, a small tweak to his average run performance would see him fighting for the overall podium next season, an improvement that is well within his reach.
Next in the rankings was David Cantero del Campo (5th). An average run of 3.2 made him one of the best in the Series and perhaps the man best equipped to take on Hauser in a straight shoot-out. He averaged 12.8 on the bike and had good transitions on average too. However, an average swim position of 22.1 was the lowest in the top-10 (and the only instance above 20). Just as Graf will need to find a little more on his run, if Cantero can make the change on his swim he could rise even further. All the other pieces are in place for the Spaniard.
Csongor Lehmann (6th) was Mr Consistency. With average positions of 6.9 (swim), 7.1 (T1), 11.6 (bike), 6.2 (T2) and 10.6 (run), his campaign was of a similar model to Graf’s. And as already stated with Graf, a slight improvement in average run could be the difference between 6th and the overall podium next year.
We then come to two athletes that were not necessarily thwarted by anything they did in the races. Alessio Crociani (7th) shared the joint-best swim average with Hauser (1.6). He also possessed great averages in transition, an average of 10.2 on bike and then an impressive 6.3 on the run. Based on those numbers, it feels odd that he was not on the overall podium.
Yet he was hampered by race selection; his fourth result in Series actually came from a (by his standards) poor finish at the European Championships, which itself was worth far less than a WTCS race. He otherwise medalled twice in three Series appearances. With that final WTCS appearance Crociani would most likely have been a podium contender.
The same applies to Max Studer (8th). The Weihai winner had an average swim of 17.2, not quite as good as the men ahead of him but still better than Yee’s world title-winning level. Average positions of 3.2 in both T1 and T2 made him the best at the changeover after Hauser. Meanwhile, averages of 6 on the bike and 4 on the run made for the best bike-run combination in the Series.
Like Crociani, though, Studer did not get his schedule right. He only made two WTCS starts which went alongside his European Championships victory. As the only man in the top-10 with three races, he would have been in the podium conversation with a full complement of events.
The best of the rest
It is at the top-8 that a separation occurs as thereafter we come to a group of athletes that were consistently impressive, but were knocked down by the sheer firepower ahead of them. Everyone in the top-8 won at least one WTCS medal this year. By contrast, outside the top-8, there were only two other medallists (Leo Bergere and Hayden Wilde), neither of whom raced a full WTCS season.
Luke Willian (9th) and Charles Paquet (10th) led this group of athletes on the basis of their tremendous consistency. Neither had a discipline with a lower average position than 14.6. However, their only discipline with an average under 10 was the bike; there they hit averages of 8.6 and 9.2, respectively.
Separately, their bike averages also reinforce an intriguing trend. Whereas the women’s top-10 had a greater reliance on the run (only one athlete had an average over 10), the men’s top-10 skewed more towards the bike. Four of the top-10 men had run averages over 10 but only two top-10 ranked women beat the worst men’s average bike position.
Dorian Coninx (11th) produced similar consistency across all disciplines as Willian and Paquet. The former world champion’s best discipline was the swim (averaging 6.7) while his worst was the bike (14.3). Right behind was Ricardo Batista (12th), another consistent force with a best discipline found in the run (8.9) and a worst in the swim (16.1).
This cluster of men were terrific in 2025, however the fact they were barred from the top-8 speaks to an important detail. Consistency alone was not enough. Lehmann was the only man in the top-8 without a swim, bike or run average position under 5 and that kind of single-discipline strength proved essential to making the top-8. Conversely, while the men just outside the top-8 are among the best in the world, the depth of competition means that making the top-8 without a “weapon” discipline is incredibly tough.
Total triathlon?
To close out this analysis, there is one trend that has become clear in 2025. We are now in an era of no weaknesses. Or better put, we are entering an era of Total Triathletes.
With Hidalgo and Vilaca at the forefront, and Hauser, Graf, Lehmann and Crociani close behind, averaging a position under 10 across all disciplines is the new standard. No female athlete managed this in 2025 however many in the top-10 hit sub-10 averages in all disciplines except the bike. In this era, then, every discipline is considered a strength by the top athletes.
In part, this is not entirely new. Alistair Brownlee and Javier Gomez Noya spring to mind as earlier archetypes of this trend. However we have never seen this level of depth of all-round brilliance.
On the flip side, those that have even one relative weakness are missing out. One example falls with the swim-bikers like Miguel Tiago Silva (18th) and Mark Devay (25th); both were incredible in the first two disciplines this year but did not have the run form. Elsewhere, Hayden Wilde had the second best average run position in 2025 (with 3), but a weaker swim cost him dearly. Although, his bike crash was a large mitigating factor in that respect.
Either way, the lesson of the broadening Total Triathlon trend is clear. To win in 2026, athletes will have to be close to perfect, just as Hauser was this year.
