It was a blockbuster weekend of triathlon with a double double-header taking place. The French Riviera welcomed the first ever shared WTCS-T100 race weekend to great fanfare. Meanwhile, Istanbul took on the daunting task of hosting the Asian Championships and the European Championships simultaneously in an event that proved a roaring success. Practically every big name in the sport was therefore on a start line and you can find out exactly what happened below in today’s Monday Morning Mix.
T100 French Riviera
Hayden Wilde entered the weekend with bold ambitions to take on the T100 and WTCS on consecutive days and he got off to the perfect start with a victory in the former. After his spectacular comeback win at T100 London, Wilde was the favourite coming into this round and he duly delivered with a victory of 22 seconds. His 1:47:17 bike split was the second best of the field, while his 58:11 run split was the third best of the day. Together, they combined to throw a double-punch that no one could cope with.
Taking silver was Jelle Geens. The Belgian athlete out-split Wilde on the run but the New Zealander had paced his effort to perfection to ensure there would be no late histrionics. On his debut over the distance, Sam Dickinson then rounded out the podium.
In the women’s race, Ashleigh Gentle claimed a first T100 win of the season thanks to a superlative 1:04:51 18km run split. The next fastest woman, silver medallist Paula Findlay, ran over 90 seconds slower, as Gentle’s running superiority proved the difference in a come-from-behind victory.
Jessica Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown had set the terms of the race with a pair of fantastic swims. Alanis Siffert then powered to the front on the bike with a phenomenal split. However, Gentle and Findlay ground down their rivals over the third discipline. The bronze medal went to India Lee and you can view the full results here.
WTCS French Riviera
A ten-man breakaway laid the foundation for a third win of the season for Series leader Matthew Hauser. Hauser had led the early part of the sprint distance 750m swim and was the first man into T1. The punishing pace was only just starting, however. Over the five laps, the front pack distanced themselves from the chasers, killing off the chances of Olympic medallists Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde. Then, on the 5km run, Hauser saw off bronze medallist Miguel Hidalgo before coming through a test of fire against silver medallist Vasco Vilaca.
Cassandre Beaugrand survived a similarly fraught finish in the women’s race as Jeanne Lehair put the world champion on the ropes with multiple courageous attacks in the final two run laps. WTCS veteran Summer Rappaport had enjoyed the best swim as gaps emerged in the choppy waters of the French Riviera. As with the men’s race, a breakaway group formed at the front, however a massive effort by Leonie Periault in particular in the chase pack helped to bring the field back together.
Beaugrand, Lehair and Emma Lombardi flew out of T2 with Periault losing precious seconds. Periault looked close to making up the 5 second gap on the first run lap, but ultimately could not close to the leaders. When Lehair’s first burst cut Lombardi away, the battle for gold was between two women. On home soil, though, Beaugrand was not going to be beaten and found a final gear on the blue carpet to snatch the gold. Lehair took silver while Periault managed to squeeze past Lombardi late on to grab the bronze. View the full results here.
European Championships Istanbul
In July, Jolien Vermeylen was crowned European champion over the sprint distance and in Istanbul she doubled up by soaring to the standard distance crown. Tilly Anema was the pick of the bunch in the water, clocking 19:56 for the 1500m when no one else made it under 20 minutes. Her aquatic speed helped to slim the field of contenders in the front pack. However, the likes of Vermeylen and World Cup winners Diana Isakova and Bianca Seregni remained.
When it came to the run, the quartet of Vermeylen, Anema, Seregni and Isakova separated themselves from the rest of the lead pack. WTCS medallist Seregni, however, was the first to crack under the pace. For the rest of the 10km, there was little to split the three leaders but Vermeylen’s late charge was simply unstoppable. Coming home 7 seconds later was Isakova while Anema secured the bronze medal a further 3 seconds back.
Over in the men’s race, a field-leading 10km split of 30:52 by Switzerland’s Max Studer saw him take the gold medal, beating out Hungary’s Bence Bicsák by 21 seconds. Studer initially had work to do as Maciej Bruzdziak and Alessio Crociani challenged the field in the water. Gradually, most of the key players found their way to the front on the bike. One man that had a rather more exciting bike segment than hoped was Panagiotis Bitados. The Greek athlete overcame a crash to pull himself back into contention and then managed to run into 3rd place in a remarkable display of grit. View the full results here.
Asian Championships Istanbul
For years now, Yuko Takahashi had dominated the Asian triathlon scene and this past weekend was no different as the Japanese athlete defended her continental title. It was a perfect race for the Japanese team as they swept the women’s podium; rising prospect Manami Hayashi crossed in 2nd place while Kanae Takenaka finished 3rd.
The three women were in total control of the race throughout. Takahashi was the fastest swimmer (21:12) and then rode with her two compatriots as a three-athlete breakaway. Takenaka earned the top bike split (1:00:37) as the leaders established a lead of well over a minute going into the run. Having been in this position so many times hitherto, Takahashi knew exactly how to close out the run and won by a whopping 95 seconds.
Takumi Hojo continued the Japanese party with a win of his own, however there was not to be another podium sweep in the men’s event. Kyotaro Yoshikawa led the way in the water. The key moves, however, came on the bike. A quintet of Hojo, Xirui Zhang, Jeremy Quindos, Yegor Krupyakov and Robin Elg escaped the clutches of the rest of the field. Like the women’s lead trio, they had over a minute to play with entering T2.
In contrast to the women’s race, the men’s 10km run was a lot more closely fought as Hojo and Zhang remained fixed together. Eventually, Hojo, a former World Cup, had the presence of mind to launch the decisive final kick and won by 11 seconds. Completing the podium was Quindos and you can view the full results here.
Europe Junior Cup Zagreb
Finally, there was a taste of junior triathlon action with the latest Europe Junior Cup. Defending her gold medal from 2024 was Anouk Danna. Petra Ban and Vittoria Facco had led the way in the water, forcing Danna to make up the best part of 15 seconds on the bike. The Swiss athlete nevertheless made it to the front and then blasted the best 5km run of the field (16:56) to win by 31 seconds. Facco then saw off the attention of Amit Ben Adiva to bring home the silver medal.
The men’s race went down to the wire with four men battling for gold in the latter stages of the run. Leni Remer-Mancini, Thibault Rivier, Zsombor Holba and Zalan Trungel-Nagy were all primed to strike after it took a 15:04 5km split to even be in contention for a medal. In the end, Remer-Mancini had the best finish and broke clear to win. Like Danna in the women’s race, he had been forced to make up time on the bike, but that clearly did not sap his legs too much. Rivier and Holba then finished with the same time, and only 1 second ahead of Trungel-Nagy, with Rivier being awarded the silver medal. View the full results here.
