The World’s Best Set to Line Up at WTCS Alghero

What happens when you bring together elite triathletes who can run a 14:40 5000m, a 32:42 10km, and a 2:06:38 marathon? WTCS champions, Olympic medalists, T100 world champions, and Ironman 70.3 world champions all on the same start list? One thing’s for sure – the upcoming WTCS race in Alghero is one you won’t want to miss.

It represents the third stop of the WTCS this season, and all eyes will be on the world’s best as they look to secure series points, Olympic qualification points, and a gold medal.

Men’s Race

The men’s start list is 55 deep, with the last three world champions on the start line: Matt Hauser, Alex Yee, and Dorian Coninx (who remains the only athlete to have beaten Hauser, Yee, and Wilde in the same race at the 2023 WTCS Finals).

This is also the fourth head-to-head match-up of Hauser, Yee, and Hayden Wilde. (Of the previous three, Hauser won in the French Riviera in 2025, Wilde at the 2024 WTCS Finals, and Yee in Weihai in 2024.)

As for 2026 results thus far, Hauser opened the season with a win in Yokohama, while Vasco Vilaca took the win in Samarkand. With one win each, both athletes sit tied atop the series standings with 1000 points each.

Former world champion Vincent Luis weighed in on the men’s race this week, calling it a big group race and naming Yee as his top pick. Luis also pointed to David Cantero and his “cheat code” run speed as a real threat, while noting that Luke Willian and Léo Bergere could also shape the race dynamics. Oliver Conway also impressed in Samarkand, and he noted that Charles Paquet could contend for a podium, while Henry Graf sits as the underdog pick.

Women’s Race

On the women’s side, the start list is 44 deep, again featuring the last three world champions: Lisa Tertsch, Cassandre Beaugrand, and Beth Potter.

Beaugrand’s fastest 10km off the bike came in Paris at the 2024 Olympic Games, where she ran 32:42 for gold. Is this the kind of time it will take for others to outrun Beaugrand this weekend?

Potter will be looking to make it double gold this season following her win at WTCS Samarkand, while the queen of Sardinia, Beaugrand, will open her season chasing a Sardinian hat-trick after wins here in Cagliari in 2024 and Alghero in 2025.

When looking at head-to-head wins between the three champions, Beaugrand leads with five victories from the French Riviera, Alghero, the 2024 WTCS Finals in Torremolinos Andalucía, Hamburg, and Cagliari. The last time Potter outraced Beaugrand in a WTCS race was Pontevedra in 2023.

Leonie Periault and Jeanne Lehair are the only athletes to have beaten Beaugrand, Potter, and Tertsch in the same race. Periault did it with her incredible run in Hamburg last year, while Lehair delivered the feat in Yokohama.

And let’s not forget the other queen of Sardinia, Georgia Taylor-Brown. Taylor-Brown won in Sardinia in both 2022 and 2023 and will be arriving in Alghero following her first T100 victory in Spain. Also on the start list is Taylor Spivey, who secured her first T100 podium this past weekend in Spain, with Alghero marking her third race in three weeks.

Lastly, Taylor Knibb will make her WTCS debut this season with an eye toward the Olympic qualification runway. The last time Knibb raced WTCS was in Cagliari in 2024.

Do not miss what will surely be a very fast race this Saturday, May 30, live at 11:00 a.m. CEST on TriathlonLive.tv.