Since the 2012 season, only Flora Duffy (BER) and Vicky Holland (GBR) have won the last round of the regular WTCS season (that is to say the race before the Series Final) and claimed that year’s world title. If you are a contender for the 2026 world title, then, history suggests you might be better off sitting out WTCS Karlovy Vary.
However, it appears we have some would-be history-makers on our hands as all three of the past world champions are ready to rumble in the Czech Republic with each looking to use a win as a springboard to the Series crown. Read on to find out all the biggest names and stories in the women’s Karlovy Vary start lists.
Beaugrand stands alone (again)
As is the case at WTCS Weihai this month, Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand will be the sole entrant from the French women’s team. As with Weihai, Karlovy Vary will be a first for Beaugrand as she has never raced this course before. Based on her successes at the hilly WTCS Alghero, though, chances are she will take the brutal hills of Karlovy Vary in her stride.
Beaugrand’s decision to race both Weihai and Karlovy Vary stands in stark contrast to men’s world champion Matt Hauser’s decision to only race in the former. Both are triple gold medallists this year and need one more score ahead of the Final. Evidently, Beaugrand is playing a safer game than Hauser, even if she actually has less ground to make up to the current Series leader. Separately, Beaugrand’s training partner Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal will also be in Karlovy Vary; the WTCS medallist is the only starter for Mexico.
Lots of Germans, lots of Brits
Karlovy Vary will also welcome back last year’s gold and bronze medallists, 2023 world champion Beth Potter (GBR) and 2025 world champion Lisa Tertsch (GER). As it happens, Potter and Tertsch are locked in an unusual final round pattern along with Beaugrand.
When Potter won the 2024 world title, Beaugrand won the final WTCS race (in Sunderland, as the Olympic Test Event was not formally designated a Series face). Then when Beaugrand won the 2024 title, Tertsch won the final round in Weihai. To cap off the pattern, Potter’s win in Weihai last year preceded Tertsch’s last-day smash-and-grab victory. Of course, the past is no guarantee of the future, but if one of the Big Three win in Karlovy Vary is it fair to guess one of the other two will take the Series?
While Tertsch and Potter try to grapple with Beaugrand, they will have no shortage of teammates in Karlovy Vary. Laura Lindemann, Annika Koch, Tanja Neubert, Julia Bröcker, Franka Rust and Selina Klamt are all part of a massive German team while Georgia Taylor-Brown, who placed 2nd at the Karlovy Vary World Cup in 2020, is joined by Olivia Mathias, Sian Rainsley, Jess Fullagar and Kate Waugh on the British squad.
The new Maya
Over the past two races in Karlovy Vary, Maya Kingma (NED) was at the forefront of a two-woman breakaway that dictated the entire race. In 2024, that ended with Kingma atop the podium and her breakaway partner Márta Kropkó (HUN) narrowly missing a maiden World Cup medal in 4th place. Last year, it was Kingma that would miss the podium as Taylor Spivey (USA) gritted her way to the silver medal. With Kingma absent this year, Karlovy Vary is crying out for a new Maya.
The logical solution would be for Kropkó and Spivey to team up on their return. The former will start alongside Zsanett Kuttor-Bragmayer (HUN) while the latter has Erica Ackerlund (USA) and Naomi Ruff (USA) for company. But there are options elsewhere.
Super swimmer Bianca Seregni (ITA) has torn it up in the Karlovy Vary water before (she is joined by Verena Steinhauser for Italy) while Jolien Vermeylen – entered with Katrien Maes for Belgium – is another capable of controlling the race through all three disciplines. Essentially, the top swim-bikers in the field need to ask themselves a simple question: what would Maya do?
From Rio to Karlovy Vary
One athlete to watch will be Slovakia’s Zuzana Michalickova who won the Rio World Cup at the start of the month. A week later, she showed her victory was no flash in the pan as she placed 5th at the Asuncion World Cup after another podium narrowly slipped away. To date, Michalickova’s best WTCS result stands at her 19th place from Quiberon in June. Based on her recent strong form, though, an improvement could be on the cards. Romana Gajdošová and Diana Dunajska will also start on the Slovakian team.
Kurikova leads home team
Finally, Petra Kurikova (CZE) will carry the hopes of the home team in Karlovy Vary. The World Cup winner has medalled at the event previously, taking a bronze medal at the 2024 World Cup. However, she comes into this race in very different circumstances.
Less than a year has passed since Kurikova became a mother and this will already be her third WTCS start since. So far she has tackled sprint distance events in Quiberon and Hamburg, and the standard distance course in Karlovy Vary will present a different challenge. Yet with home support to count on, Kurikova could be in line for her best finish of the season. Heidi Juránková, Alzbeta Hruskova and Dana Prikrylova make up the rest of the Czech team.
Who’s not there?
Tilda Månsson (SWE) is out again, as is the case with WTCS Weihai. The Yokohama gold medallist is only 5 points behind Series leader Potter and so will likely be putting all of her eggs in the Pontevedra Final basket. After all, if Potter does not gain any further ground in either Weihai or Karlovy Vary, the Swedish athlete will be in a perfect position to snatch the Series lead away. Equally, the world title could prove out of reach if one of Potter, Tertsch or Beaugrand get a big score at one of the next two races.
Leonie Periault (FRA) is also surprisingly out again. She is over 100 points behind Tertsch (who is 3rd overall) and without DNFs at the Final her chances of making the overall podium again this year seem on edge, especially with Beaugrand seemingly set to overtake her with a fourth score. Emma Lombardi (FRA), who crashed out of Karlovy Vary last year, Valentina Riasova (AIN) and Gina Sereno (USA) are the only other missing names from the top-20 in the rankings.
Don’t miss out on a moment of the action by tuning in to TriathlonLive.io on Saturday 13th September. View the full start lists here.