A Year in Triathlon: Draft-Legal Triathletes of the Year

Matt Hauser wins WTCS Hamburg. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

We decided to break out our Triathletes of the Year into three categories for 2025. We kicked things off with our “middle-distance” winners – Hayden Wilde and Lucy Charles-Barclay.

Next up was our long-distance category, which went to Kat Matthews and Kristian Blummenfelt.

A Year in Triathlon: 2025 Long-Distance Triathletes of the Year

As I pointed out in both stories, how athletes fared at the world championships should play a major part of any decision around triathlete of the year awards. When it comes to draft-legal racing, the World Triathlon Championship Series rewards the most consistent athlete of the year. Yes, there is added weight placed on the Championship Series Final, but unless you’ve had pretty decent results throughout the rest of the year, you’re not going to be in contention to take the title. Having the world championship decided based on a number of races does set up some interesting dynamics for that grand final, though. I’ve been at a few grand final races where the world champion wasn’t close to winning the race – I watched Javier Gomez come second to Mario Mola in Chicago in 2015, but still walk away with the world title. A year later I watched Mola finish fifth in Cozumel, but still have enough points to win the world championship. In 2019 Vincent Luis finished fifth in Lausanne, well back of winner Kristian Blummenfelt, but that was enough for the Frenchman to take his first world title, too. (There are no-doubt lots more examples – I am just citing races I was at!)

So, with all of that said, here’s a look at our draft-legal triathletes of the year:

Men’s Winner – No Brainer! Matt Hauser, of Course

When it comes to picking a men’s winner in this category, giving it to Australia’s Matt Hauser is pretty simple. Not only did he win the world title (the first Aussie to do so in 20 years – Peter Robertson won his third and last title in 2005), the 27-year-old won four of the eight races in the WTCS series including the finals in Wollongong – a feat that’s never been done before. (His other wins came in Yokohama, Hamburg and French Riviera.) He finished second at the WTCS events in Abu Dhabi and Alghero, with his only non-podium day coming at the race in Karlovy Vary. Hauser also helped his team take the world mixed relay title in Hamburg this summer, too.

Hauser is greeted by his Australian teammates at the finish line of the World Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships in Hamburg. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

Hauser’s season was so dominant he even won the prestigious Noosa Triathlon, a non-drafting event, to round out his incredibly successful 2025 campaign. All of which makes him a very easy pick.

Tertsch Takes the Tape

Photo: World Triathlon

While picking Hauser was really easy, the women’s champ isn’t quite as straightforward. In the end I’m going with the world champion once again, but considering how many times she was beaten by the two other athletes who could have been considered for the triathlete of the year, I could see how people could argue with my pick.

Heading into the WTCS Finals in Wollongong, Tertsch did have one previous WTCS win from the season – Abu Dhabi. Later in the year, though, it was Beth Potter and Cassandre Beaugrand who appeared to be the strongest draft-legal women on the circuit. Each headed into Wollongong with a couple of WTCS wins and a runner-up finish, putting them in the driver’s seat to each take a second world title. (Beaugrand was the defencing champion, while Potter took the world title in 2023.) A win in Wollongong guaranteed either of the two favourites the world title. In fact, the only way Tertsch could win was if both the Frenchwoman and the Brit finished out of the top five.

Well, that’s exactly what happened. All three were part of a lead pack off the bike, but Beaugrand would drop out of the race, while Potter had a tough day, crossing the line in 16th. Tertsch took full advantage of the opportunity and ran her way to the world title, finishing well ahead of France’s Leonie Periault in the overall standings, while Potter dropped to third and Beaugrand fell to seventh.

Photo: World Triathlon

Tertsch is the first German woman to win a short-course world title, and based on her big day in Wollongong, it seems appropriate to give her the nod as our draft-legal triathlete of the year.

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