And so here we are already. The last round of the regular WTCS season before the world is decided at the Series Final in Pontevedra. For many athletes, WTCS Karlovy will be a final shot to tidy up their points totals with eyes on making last-minute jumps up the Series rankings. With plenty of prize money on the line at the end of the campaign, every place will count in more ways than one. To enjoy such rewards, however, the 55 men on the Karlovy Vary start list will have to come through what is famed as the toughest course in short course triathlon. Find out below who will be tackling this beast of a course and some of the biggest stories to follow.
The non-Final final chance
In a reversal of the upcoming WTCS Weihai, reigning world champion Matt Hauser (AUS) will not be in Karlovy Vary. Current men’s Series leader Vasco Vilaca (POR), however, will be. A potentially pivotal opportunity therefore presents itself to the Portuguese athlete. Already a double race winner this year, a third win could ensure his lead of the Series going into the Final (assuming Hauser does not win in Weihai); even if Hauser does win in China, a Vilaca win in Karlovy Vary would certainly do his momentum no harm.
Yet to bring home a third gold of 2026, Vilaca will need to get past Dorian Coninx (FRA), the man that got the better of him in Quiberon. Meanwhile, double 2026 medallist Ricardo Batista also starts for Portugal as does Miguel Tiago Silva. For his part, Coninx has Yanis Seguin and Jules Rethoret alongside him in French colours as well as the intriguing proposition of the return of 2022 world champion Léo Bergere.
Turning things around
Miguel Hidalgo (BRA) will head up a cluster of athletes without any teammates in Karlovy Vary. This group also includes World Cup winner Arnaud Mengal (BEL), World Cup medallists Tayler Reid (NZL) and Ben Dijkstra (TRI), and European Championships medallist Panagiotis Bitados (GRE), but it is Hidalgo that could have the biggest part to play.
The WTCS gold medallist will be hoping to exploit Hauser’s absence and gobble up some big points to burnish his hopes of finishing on the overall podium for the second straight season. The likes of Coninx and Batista are lurking and putting further distance between himself and them now could pay off in a major way at the Final.
At the same time, Hidalgo may be looking up rather than down. Indeed, there may be echoes of Lisa Tertsch’s 2025 season with the Brazilian. A slightly sub-optimal summer gave way to a stunning surge to glory at the Final for Tertsch and, as the silver medallist last year in Karlovy Vary, Hidalgo is more than capable of rediscovering his top form on the hardest course on the circuit.
Viel Glück
Last year’s race winner Henry Graf naturally headlines the German team in Karlovy Vary. Equally, this year’s double medallist has slipped off the radar lately, having pulled out of WTCS London, missed the German Championships and chosen to skip WTCS Weihai. Instead of breaking out tinfoil hats and conspiracy theories (all options from injury to alien abduction are plausible at this point), we will instead turn to the two debutants racing for Team Germany.
It has been a fantastic summer for Justus Töpper and Benedikt Bettin and the German duo will be eager to impress on their first Series starts. Töpper only made his World Cup debut back in May but earlier this month claimed a first medal on the circuit to lock in his spot on the Karlovy Vary start list, while Bettin comes into this race with the World University Championships title in his pocket.
On a course like this, the best thing to say is usually “good luck”. Such has been the form of Töpper and Bettin, though, good luck is one thing they are not currently lacking. Bringing the German team to five men will be WTCS medallist Tim Hellwig and World Cup medallist Valentin Wernz.
Place of dreams
To borrow from Alicia Keys, over the past few years Karlovy Vary has been a place where triathlon dreams are made of. Márk Dévay (HUN), for example, powered his way to a first World Cup medal there in 2023. At the same race, Alois Knabl (AUT) hit a career-best result of 4th place. Both will be back for this edition, with Tjebbe Kaindl (AUT) joining Knabl and Zsombor Dévay, Márton Kropkó and Csongor Lehmann, who medalled last year, also starting for Hungary.
Moreover, WTCS gold medallist Morgan Pearson (USA) won a first World Cup that day in 2023, precipitating a run that saw him rebound from injury and suddenly lead the American men to Paris 2024. He will not be there in September, but John Reed (USA) will aim to step up in his place. Reed memorably followed in Pearson’s footsteps and claimed a first World Cup win in 2024. Keller Norland and Chase McQueen will be the other Americans hoping for some Karlovy Vary magic next month.
And then when Karlovy Vary made its WTCS bow last year, the breakthrough vibes continued. Graf is the obvious point of reference with his first Series win, but there was also the sensational debut of World U23 champion Oliver Conway (GBR).
Currently the owner of the second fastest 10km run split in this year’s Series (29:36), Conway will hope for another big showing. However, he will have to get past a strong British cohort that includes Alex Yee, the fastest male triathlete over 10km in 2026 (29:08), Connor Bentley, Jack Willis and Max Stapley. Yee will also be making his first ever start in Karlovy Vary and who knows, maybe this will be a chance of new success for the man that has won everything in the sport.
Sniffing out a medal
Finally, we have a trio of WTCS medallists that will be in the conversation for a medal in Karlovy Vary. Charles Paquet (CAN) earned a first podium at the season opener in Samarkand and has not left the top-5 of a race since (excluding an unfortunate, if acrobatic, crash at WTCS London). He will start alongside Mathis Beaulieu and Martin Sobey for Canada.
David Cantero del Campo (ESP), a medallist at last year’s Series Final, will likewise hope for a medal. Antonio Serrat Seaone and Pelayo González Turrez join him as part of a Spanish trio. Also starting will be Alessio Crociani (ITA), who left the 2025 Final with a medal of his own and is an athlete well-suited to the Karlovy Vary course. He will head to the Czech Republic with Miguel Espuna Larramona (ITA) as his sole teammate. Altogether, then, this is a field not lacking in depth and even making the top-8 will be quite the ask.
Who’s not there?
As already mentioned, Hauser is pinning everything on Weihai this month. This is a dangerous game for one mishap in China will mean his world title defence is over. Conversely, if he wins, Hauser will be guaranteed the Series lead going into the Final and can spare his legs the hills of Karlovy Vary.
Elsewhere among the higher-ranked men in the Series, Luke Willian (AUS), Tom Richard (FRA) and Alberto Gonzalez Garcia (ESP) are not starting. Willian and Gonzalez will be in Weihai as they seek to gain late points while Richard will fancy his chances of defending his current spot in the overall top-8 with a big finish to his season at the Pontevedra Final.
View the full start lists here and be sure to tune in to both standard distance races on TriathlonLive (at TriathlonLive.io) on Saturday 13th September.