A huge week in Pontevedra concluded at the weekend after amazing action in the cross triathlon, cross duathlon and aquathlon disciplines, the highlight of which perhaps was the all-French showdown between Arthur Serrieres and Felix Forrisier in the elite men’s cross triathlon. Alongside the long distance triathlon event that capped the week in Pontevedra, Morocco welcomed a World Cup race for the second time ever while several major WTCS players were in action in Europe. Find out all that went down in this week’s Monday Morning Mix.
Pontevedra World Long Distance Triathlon Championships
Defending world champion Antonio Benito Lopez (ESP) was the man to watch going into the blue riband event of the World Multisport Championships and he did not disappoint. He was one of the first men out of the water (clocking 43:35 for the 3km swim to emerge 1 second off the lead) and then consolidated his advantage at the front with fellow swim leader Casimir Moine (FRA) and others.
Guillen Montiel Moreno used a field-leading 120km bike split of 2:54:41 (almost 3 minutes quicker than Benito) to storm into the lead. But then the champ came back. A 30km run split of 1:48:50 – when no one else broke 1:50 – vaulted Benito back to the front and to the gold medal by over 7 minutes. Even after five-and-a-half hours of work, the win ensured he crossed the line with a spring in his step.
Dylan Magnien (FRA) followed in 2nd place with Britain’s William Draper in 3rd after Montiel did not finish.
In the women’s race, Marjolaine Pierre (FRA) took down the returning gold and silver medallists from the 2024 edition. Like Benito, Pierre held the reins virtually throughout the race. She was towards the front in the water (clocking 51:21) before detonating a 3:11:51 bike split. Defending champion Charlotte Clavel (FRA) was the next fastest woman on two wheels in 3:20:57. Marta Lagownik (POL), the European Middle Distance champion, pulled back time on the run, but Pierre was too far ahead for it to matter. The Frenchwoman ultimately crossed in 6:15:50 to beat Lagownik into silver by over 11 minutes while Clavel settled for bronze. View the full results here.
Saidia World Cup
At the brand new World Cup location of Saidia, Diana Isakova (AIN) earned a second World Cup gold medal on the bounce following her triumph in Samarkand. New Zealand’s Eva Goodisson had separated herself from the field by coming to terms best in a shallow yet wavy sea swim. Over the standard distance, though, she had too much work to do alone at the front and was caught despite a valiant effort. That set up a running race out of T2 and Isakova gradually took control.
However, she did not have things her own way as Danielle Orie (USA) pushed her throughout. It was only a late surge from Isakova that broke the American, but Orie was nonetheless thrilled with a maiden medal at this level. Joining them on the podium was Ilaria Zane (ITA) as she led a trio of Italian athletes in the top-6.
Meanwhile, when Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN) took control of the men’s race during the 10km run with fellow World Cup winner John Reed (USA) on his heels, most observers would have fairly picked one of the two to cross the line first. Yet steadily eating into the gap to the leaders was young Oliver Conway (GBR).
Conway was making his debut at the World Cup level having aged out of the junior ranks at the start of the year. Moreover, he only had four senior international starts – all at the Europe Cup level – to his name prior to Saidia. Regular readers of this year’s Monday Morning Mix may recognise his name, though, after he pushed World U23 champion David Cantero del Campo (ESP) en route to silver in Quarteira and then won in Olsztyn.
Suddenly, Conway was with Mislawchuk and Reed and helped set a pace that burned off the latter. Rounding a late corner, the Brit ignited a smart burst of speed to put the far more experienced Mislawchuk on the ropes before decisively kicking clear. As a result, Conway joins the exclusive club of athletes to win a World Cup on debut (for example, Reese Vannerson (USA) did the same recently in Chengdu) and the British men’s team might have found a new gem early on the road to Los Angeles. Mislawchuk held on for silver while Reed claimed the bronze medal. View the full results here.
World Triathlon Mediterranean Championships Taranto
At the start of the month Taranto played host to the third World Para Series stop of the season and at the weekend triathlon racing returned with the Mediterranean Championships. To the delight of the home fans, the men’s race yielded an Italian sweep of the podium. Lorenzo Pelliciardi (ITA), like Conway an athlete in his first year out of the junior ranks, won a sprint finish against Miguel Espuna Larramona (ITA) to take the gold. In doing so, he added his win in Taranto to his victory at the Tipaza Africa Cup in May. Davide Menichelli (ITA) rounded out the podium.
In a small women’s field, there was another win for Italy as Martina McDowell beat out Alejandro Segui Soria (ESP) by 17 seconds. McDowell had led the sprint distance 750m swim in 10:14, putting 24 seconds into her nearest rival. She then extended her lead with another field-leading split on the bike, recording 33:52 over 20km to extend her gap to over 75 seconds. Segui’s 16:19 5km split was 63 seconds better than McDowell and the best of the bunch, but it was not enough to haul in the breakaway star. Natalia Castro Santos (ESP) then finished 5 seconds behind Segui in 3rd place. View the full results here.
Around the world
Round two of the 2025 French Grand Prix also took place at the weekend with Jeanne Lehair (LUX) powering to yet another win. The winner of WTCS Yokohama had won at the Grand Prix opener and was on song again as she relegated fellow WTCS gold medallist Leonie Periault (FRA) to 2nd place. Completing the podium was the winner of the Napier World Cup, Canada’s Desirae Ridenour.
The men’s race saw a dose of revenge of sorts as Olympic bronze medallist Leo Bergere (FRA) got one over the current WTCS Series leader Matthew Hauser (AUS). Hauser had beaten Bergere in both WTCS Yokohama and WTCS Alghero but the Frenchman would not be denied over the sprint distance. With Hamburg next up in the WTCS – another sprint event and a race that Hauser won in 2024 – Bergere’s defeat of Hauser may give hope to the Australian’s Series rivals. Taking an impressive bronze medal behind the pair of WTCS race winners was Spain’s Pelayo Gonzalez Turrez.
Finally, Tjebbe Kaindl (AUT) won on his middle distance debut at Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee. This stands as the biggest win of Kaindl’s career so far and could prove a launchpad for the next phase in his career.
