Can Alex Yee or Hayden Wilde get it done this year?
It's hard to imagine that the two dominant forces in draft-legal races won't take this year's world championship title ... but that was the case last year, too.
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World Triathlon
Heading into last year’s World Triathlon Championship Finals in Abu Dhabi, it would have been hard to find any triathlon pundits willing to bet against either Great Britain’s Alex Yee or New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde taking the world title.
Leo Bergere takes Grand Final and surprise world championship title
The seemingly impossible happened, though, as French star Leo Bergere took a huge win. He needed Yee to finish no better than fourth, and Wilde to finish no better than sixth to take the title. That’s exactly where the two pre-race favourites ended up, which enabled Bergere to make up 357 points and earn the world title.
As they did in 2022, Yee (3,498 points) and Wilde (3,331 points) have dominated the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) in 2023, with Yee taking three wins to Wilde’s two. If either win on Saturday they will take the world title – it’s that simple.
Vilaca and other contenders
Of all of the other contenders, Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca (3,283 points) is in the best position to pull a “Bergere” and sneak his way to the top of the podium. Bergere (3,013 points) will need another big win and a near collapse from the men ahead in the standings (Yee, Wilde and Vilaca need to finish eight, seventh and fifth or lower for that to happen.) Bergere’s countryman, Dorian Coninx (2,987 points), is mathematically in the mix, too.
(In theory Matt Hauser and Kristian Blummenfelt could win the world title, but they’d need pretty much all of the men ahead of them in the standings not to finish.)
Face it, Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde are the kings of draft-legal racing right now
Contenders for the win
Winning the overall title won’t require a win on Saturday for Yee and Wilde, and there are certainly a number of big names who would dearly love to finish off their 2023 WTCS season with a win a the championship finals.
It’s not hard to imagine a dynamic where Yee and Wilde mark each other and look to ensure a top finish ahead of the other, leaving a window open for someone else to win the day. You can put the likes of France’s Pierre Le Corre and American Morgan Pearson on that list, along with Kristian Blummenfelt. The  Norwegian Tokyo gold medalist is all done with short course racing and has spent the last few weeks getting ready for this race. He’ll no-doubt drive the pace on the bike, then look to power his way through the run.
You can see the full race field here. In terms of Americans in the field, Pearson will be joined by Darr Smith and Matthew McElroy, while Canada will be represented by Tyler Mislawchuk, Charles Paquet and Brock Hoel.
How to watch
All eyes, though, will be on the battle for the overall world title, which should turn out to be an exciting race between Yee and Wilde. In theory one would give the running nod to Yee, which means Wilde will likely need either a gap off the bike, or a ride that has somehow tired out the Brit.
Coverage of the race will start at 11:04 EST on Saturday on TriathlonLive.TV.
