All good things must come to an end and so it was this weekend with the 2025 World Cup circuit. After a thrilling season that started all the way back in Napier nine months ago, things could not end on a damp note. And with that in mind, a double-header in Tongyeong and Florianopolis brought the requisite pyrotechnics. With the last instalment of the T100 ahead of the Qatar finale and racing at the Islamic Solidarity Games also taking place, there was plenty else to savour.
Tongyeong World Cup
At the well-trodden sprint distance event in South Korea, a first World Cup win arrived for Tilly Anema (GBR) in the women’s race. As has rapidly become her trademark, the Brit was first out of the water and created the opening for a subsequent breakaway. A group of eight formed, establishing a lead they would not surrender. From there, Anema built upon her bronze medal showing in Miyazaki a week prior with a smooth run to win by 14 seconds.
Comparisons can be drawn between Anema and last year’s Tongyeong winner Jolien Vermeylen (BEL). The latter is another strong swimmer who went on to enjoy an incredible 2025 season, scoring European titles and best ever WTCS finishes.
In the battle for silver, Diana Isakova (AIN) once again landed on the podium courtesy of a field-leading 5km run split (16:35). Anema’s fellow breakaway rider Charlotte Derbyshire (AUS) then crossed for a well-deserved first World Cup medal in 3rd place.
Meanwhile, if the men’s race had been close in Miyazaki, the showdown in Tongyeong produced a finale even more fraught with tension. It took longer this time round for the field to come together on the bike, only doing so on the final lap, but merge it did, setting up a 5km shoot-out. This opened the door for Maxime Hueber-Moosbrugger (FRA) to fly to gold by a single second, his third of the World Cup season (if the supertri E world championships are included, an event technically awarded World Cup designation).
No other athlete has managed to win three races at this level in 2025, putting Hueber-Moosbrugger in a class on his own. Vetle Bergsvik Thorn (NOR) made a return to the World Cup podium in 2nd place while a further 2 seconds back was Shachar Sagiv (ISR) in 3rd place. View the full results here.
Florianopolis World Cup
On Sunday, we then came to the final World Cup race of the year and a brand new location in Brazil. Again, a sprint distance race was on offer; for the athletes that have been racing since February, it probably would have been cruel to subject them to one final standard distance challenge. The women’s race saw a Spanish sweep of the podium as Sara Guerrero Manso (ESP) scored a first ever World Cup victory. Her first visit to the podium at this level came earlier this season, and she has upped her level in the past few weeks.
After a breakaway shaped the first parts of the race, it was to be a close tussle on the run as Marta Pintanel Raymundo (ESP) and winner of last week’s San Pedro De La Paz winner Miriam Casillas Garcia (ESP) duelled Guerrero over 5km. Guerrero, though, produced the goods with a decisive surge. Pintanel would go on to claim silver ahead of Casillas.
Further Spanish delight followed in the men’s race as David Cantero del Campo (ESP) came from nowhere to stun the breakaway leaders that seemed to have all but locked up the gold. Miguel Tiago Silva (POR), Nicola Azzano (ITA) and Igor Dupuis (FRA) were the three men to escape the attentions on the field. As the bike progressed, they pounded the chasers and extended their advantage to 54 seconds. When Silva charged out of T2, that seemed as though it would be enough. It almost was.
From the chase pack, Cantero was on the move. A bronze and silver behind Manoel Messias (BRA) in the Chilean double header had left him hungry for gold, and it showed as he first hunted down Azzano. With the finish line in sight, he drove again and found his way past the leaders, ending his season on a high, if one that had been unexpected in T2.
Dupuis took silver, matching the career-high finish he achieved earlier this year at the Tiszaujvaros World Cup. Moments later, Silva held on against a pack of charging chasers for the bronze. This represented a maiden podium on the circuit for the Portuguese athlete. View the full results here.
Dubai T100
Dubai saw the return to the start line of Olympic silver medallist Julie Derron (SUI) and she wasted no time in reasserting her class. The best bike split of the day (1:55:05) brought her up to the leaders Kate Waugh (GBR) and Jess Learmonth (GBR) having lost over 20 seconds to the British pair in the water. The trio arrived in T2 in quick succession. However any sense of a contest soon vanished as Derron ripped a 1:03:22 18km run split (again, a field-best) to win by over 3 minutes. Waugh continued her sterling debut season in the T100 with a silver medal while Learmonth rounded out the podium in 3rd place.
Morgan Pearson (USA) was the first man out of the water and would end the day in the same position when crossing the line. In between were some slightly unfortunate moments on the bike and run vis-à-vis lap counting, but Pearson was the story of the day. A T100 Hot Shot, he started his series campaign with an 8th place in San Francisco. A 7th place in Vancouver followed before he improved to 5th in the French Riviera. Now with a first win, Pearson is evidently coming to terms with the level. Mika Noodt (GER) was back on the podium in 2nd place. Bronze then went to Italy’s Gregory Barnaby (ITA). View the full results here.
Riyadh Islamic Solidarity Games
The Islamic Solidarity Games were first held back in 2005 and are back in Saudi Arabia for the second time, making the country the first to host on multiple occasions. Duathlon stood as the multisport sport of choice, the athletes competing over a sprint distance 5km run, 20km bike and 2.5km run.
The experienced Sinem Francisca Tous Servera (TUR) came out on top in the women’s race. She and Alina Khakimova (UZB) had spent the race comfortably ahead of the field thanks to field-leading first run (17:14) and bike splits. Tous managed to kick clear on the final run to win by 18 seconds. The best of the rest was Ghizlane Assou (MAR) as she rode solo on the bike to lock up 3rd place.
Mohamed Nemsi (MAR), the 5th place finisher at the World Games and the African duathlon champion, was the star of the show in the men’s race, beating out Enes Kızılcık (TUR) and Gültigin Er (TUR) into silver and bronze. A composed all-round effort saw Nemsi win by 28 seconds as he left the drama to his two Turkish rivals. It took a big final effort from Kızılcık to pull clear of Er by 4 seconds to seal the silver. View the full results here.
