Matthew Hauser sprints to first WTCS title in Montreal

In a race where just staying upright on the bike was a huge challenge, Australia’s Matthew Hauser managed to keep the rubber on the ground, then burn lots of it in the final straight to sprint to his first World Triathlon Championship Series title today in Montreal.

The Australian was up at the front coming out of the water, part of the lead group that pushed the pace and stretched the likes of Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt, who were almost 40 seconds down coming into T1.

The long run to T1, along with the slippery conditions thanks to the rain and roads with lots of paint, meant that things didn’t really split up very much. Blummenfelt led the chase group back up to the leaders. Among the men who would go down during the ride were Canadian favourite Tyler Mislawchuk, who managed to get back up on his bike but would use lots of energy to get to the main group again, nullifying his normal run prowess. Another notable name to crash was Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca, who went down with just over a lap to go, but would finish the race in order to claim the Series Leader trophy.

Spain’s Roberto Sanchez Mantecón was first out of T2, but the pack that appeared to be set to contend for the medals was right behind and included: Hauser, Jelle Geens (BEL), Manoel Messias (BRA), Tim Hellwig (GER), Jonas Schomburg (GER), Blummenfelt and Japan’s Kenji Nener. Hanging ever so close to that group throughout the run was Canadian Charles Paquet, for whom a seventh-place finish would be a first qualifying step for next year’s Olympics in Paris.

Hauser made his move with about 1 km to go, and only Messias could stay close, but never really threatened the Aussie for the win. Hauser was all smiles as he hit the carpet on his way to his first WTCS win.

“I’ve just been building my momentum,” Hauser said after the race. “After Yokohama, where I finished in second place, I knew I had a better lead-up in prep. I felt good out there and got the job done. It’s instinct, you’ve just got to act in the moment. I knew the other guys were just settling into a rhythm and you can’t let that happen. I knew the sooner I went, the better. I was lucky enough to break them up but it was a big group of guys on the run and it certainly wasn’t wrapped up until the end.”

Messias would take silver, his second of 2023 after doing the same in Abu Dhabi.

Geens would add a third to the win he took here a few years ago.

“Coming back to the place where you won your first WTCS, it just feels good and the whole week here, I just love this city,” Geens said. “I love the vibe. I love the race. I had a bit of a rough winter with a big crash and a big concussion, I think it took me longer than expected to recover. I wouldn’t say I am 100% but I am getting there. It’s good to have this podium under the belt and now I just look forward.I made it very hard for myself, those first couple of laps, because I didn’t want to take any risks and touch the ground. With the rain, it makes it ten times worse.”

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Hellwig would manage to outsprint Blummenfelt for fourth, with Biscak taking sixth. Paquet was thrilled with his seventh-place finish, thrilling the Quebec crowd.

Mislawchuk would hang in despite the crash, finishing 15th.

You can see the full results here.