Hauser Takes the World Triathlon Final, Vilaca Takes the Championship, Yee Serves Notice

It was a return of the old guard today at the World Triathlon Championship Final in Pontevedra, Spain. While reigning world champion Matt Hauser (AUS) would take the day, the man leading the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS), Vasco Vilaça (POR), would come within a photo-finish of the win, securing the world title. 

Adding to today’s fun, though, was the impressive return to the podium of Olympic gold medalist Alex Yee (GBR), who flew through the run to move from 15th to third, while Paris silver medalist Hayden Wilde (NZL) would continue his brilliant four weeks of racing (second at the Supertri Pro Series Final, 70.3 worlds win, followed by the T100 French Riviera win) to finish fifth behind Portugal’s Ricardo Batista.

Breakaway Group Stays Clear

After a fast swim start it was Hungary’s Mark Dévay who would lead the way out of the water after the first lap as the athletes struggled to climb the ramp before the dive back in to the water. Through the second lap, though, it was Devay’s countryman Marton Kropkó who was first out of the water, with Dévay on his feet and France’s Jules Rethoret and Hauser two and three seconds behind. Vilaça was about 14 seconds down, with Yee at 45 seconds and Wilde and 54 seconds as they ran to T1.

Once out on the bike a group of 13 quickly formed up front, with a couple of chase groups forming roughly 20 and 45 seconds back. As the lead group whittled down to 11, the two chase groups joined up as Wilde drove the pace in the second group to move towards the front. 

In the end the lead group that included Houser, Vilaça, Dévay, Miguel Tiago Silva (POR), Ricardo Batista (POR), Simon Westermann (SUI), Connor Bentley (GBR), Dylan McCullough (NZL), Rethoret, Kropkó and Dorian Conninx (FRA) would continue to work together really well and got to T2 with a 40-second lead on the chase group. 

While Hauser and Vilaça quickly took off at the front of the lead pack, it was Yee and Wilde who moved away from the rest of the men in the chase pack. By the end of the first lap it was Hauser, Vilaça and Batista in front with an eight second lead on Coninx, but Yee, who had managed to drop Wilde was storming towards the front – had closed the gap to 21 seconds and running in seventh. Wilde was another six seconds back in 11th.

As they worked through the second lap, the lead three suddenly found Yee gaining even more time, quickly moving to 11 seconds behind. Wilde’s charge to the front moved him to sixth at this point, but he was still 28 seconds back. 

By the end of that second of three laps Yee was only four seconds behind the leaders, and it was only a matter of time before the British Olympic gold medalist would join the lead group of three. Once he got to the lead group he sat in for a while, apparently collecting himself before attempting to make another move. 

Aș Hauser continued to push at the front, Yee moved to the Australian’s shoulder, then surging to the the front as they started a slight incline. Hauser refused to let Yee control the pace, though, and quickly reasserted himself at the front with Vilaça and Batista staying right in the mix, setting up a four-man race for the three podium spots. 

Vilaça, who is renowned for his downhill prowess, seemed ready to pounce as they neared the finish line and hit the last downhill before the flat sprint to the finish, but Hauser would have none of it, continuing to push at the front. 

Vilaça finally made his move just before they hit the couple of hundred meter sprint on the track to the finish, but Hauser marked it as Yee finally showed that he’s human and faded back behind the two WTCS leaders. Then, as they hit the blue carpet, Hauser and Vilaça suddenly found themselves running side by side sprinting for the tape. Hauser managed to find another gear just before the line and would break the tape just ahead of Vilaça, with Yee taking a miraculous third place thanks to a 28:46 run split that got him to the line ahead of Batista. Wilde would move ahead of Coninx to take an impressive fifth. 

Vilaça only needed a top-five finish to take the world title, so his impressive race might not have got him the win today, but it was more than enough to make him this year’s world champion.

In the series rankings, nothing changed in the top three as Vilaca, Hauser and Batista remained in the same positions they were in heading in to the final, but it was Yee who made a huge move on the day, gaining nine spots to move to sixth.

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