After a bronze at the Olympics, Hayden Wilde of New Zealand is running wild in the 2022 World Triathlon Championship Series with two runners-up and two wins that also launched him into the lead of the Maurice Lacroix Championship Series rankings.
Wilde took 2nd at Yokohama, a win at Leeds, 2nd at Montreal and a hard-fought, 3-seconds margin of victory over Australian Matthew Hauser at the sprint-distance Hamburg event.
On a sports-mad Saturday where ground breaking Ons Jabeur of Tunisia became the first African woman to compete in the final of Wimbledon, Jawad Abdelmoula became the first Moroccan to podium in a WTCS event by placing third at Hamburg.
Race Recap
Frenchmen Leo Bergere (wearing number 1 today because he led the Championship Series standings) two-time World Triathlon champion Vincent Luis, Tom Richard, up and comer Valentin Morlec plus Matthew Hauser of Australia exited the water all just under 9 minutes. Right on their toes were Mark Devay of Hungary, Dylan Maccollough of New Zealand, Kenji Nener of Japan, and Jamie Riddle of South Africa. The leaders were 28 seconds ahead of established stars Jelle Geens of Belgium, Hayden Wilde, Mario Mola of Spain and Bence Bicsak of Hungary.
Once on the bike, Luis, Morlec, and Bergere tried to make an early breakaway, but were coon captured by an aggressive 13-man chase group. On the first of six 3.5-kilometer laps, Jelle Geens and Hayden Wilde led the chasers on a mission to join the leaders. And so on the second lap, the lead group morphed into a 30-man train hungry to save energy for the run ahead.
Young Jamie Riddle of South Africa, a strong swimmer and biker, soon ran out of patience and went on a kamikaze break and opened up a 10 seconds gap before the chasers responded.
Riddle kept the lead for two and a half laps before Wilde, Jonas Schomburg of Germany, Luis and Geens accelerated and clamped down on Riddle’s dreams of a solo arrival at T2.
While a 30-man traffic jam arrived, Geens took the lead on to the run while Wilde played it cool and conservative, setting out at the back of the conglomerate. Once on two feet, Wilde made quick work of most of the men ahead. Halfway through the 5k run, the lead pack was down to seven. With 2.5km to go, Wilde made his move passed everyone, but only Hauser was able to follow.
Showing his world class speed, Wilde blasted away to a race-best and nearly-Hamburg-record 14:07 split that brought him to the line in 53:10 with a 3 seconds margin over Hauser (14:13 run split) and 16 seconds on 3rd place finisher Abdelmoula – shockingly impressive by such a newcomer against a strong field.
After the race, Wilde explained his strategy to World Triathlon media. “It was pretty hard to get through everyone today, it was actually full-on on the bike so I just had to stay calm and in position, knowing that we had a good group to catch up in front with that head-wind, it paid up pretty well. Having a rusty T2, a lot of people coming in at the same time, but it actually worked in my favor, going out there’s a hit of a head-wind so I got to tuck into a few athletes until we got the tail-wind on the run. Then halfway, I kicked an attack and tried to hold on and got the win today.”
Hauser was exuberant with his race: ““I am very stoked, it’s been in my mind for a long time (this result)”, Hauser told World Triathlon media. “I had a great result in Yokohama, I was able to show my run form then. It is my first time here since 2017 when I won Junior Worlds and Mixed Team Relay Worlds, it’s a special place for me.”
Abdelmoula was over the moon with his podium finish. “Oh wow, I am very happy to take third place,” he told World Triathlon media. “Leo Bergere is a very strong athlete, I am really happy that I was able to catch him in the final stage of the run. I didn’t know if I had got third place until I finished and someone told me.”
World Triathlon – Hamburg
Hamburg, Germany
July 9, 2022
S 750 m / B 20k / R 5k
Men's Results
1. Hayden Wilde (NZL) S 9:13 T1 00:32 B 28:56 T2 00:25 R 14:07 TOT 53:10
2. Matthew Hauser (AUS) S 8:51 T1 00:40 B 29:09 T2 00:21 R 14:13 TOT 53:13
3. Jawad Abdelmoula (Morocco) S 09:04 T1 00:37 B 28:59 T2 00:23 R 14:25 TOT 53:26
4. Leo Bergere (FRA) S 08:55 T1 00:33 B 29:08 T2 00:22 R 14:32 TOT 53:29
5. Jelle Geens (BEL) S 9:12 T1 00:34 B 28:51 T2 00:20 R 14:40 TOT 53:36
6. Tom Richard (FRA) S 08:52 T1 00:34 B 29:13 T2 00:21 R 14:39 TOT 53:37
7. Vasco Vilaca (POR) S 09:03 T1 00:35 B 28:59 T2 00:23 R 14:40 TOT 53:38
8. Joao Silva (POR) S 09:06 T1 00:34 B 29:02 T2 0:22 R 14:38 TOT 53:40
9. Vetle Bergsvik Thorn (NOR) S 09:06 T1 00:35 B 29:02 T2 00:24 TOT 53:42
10. Vincent Luis (FRA) S 08:45 T1 00:34 B 29:19 T2 00:23 R 14:45 TOT 53:44.
