WTCS Abu Dhabi 2026 Results: Hidalgo and Isakova Win

Brazil’s Miguel Hidalgo bounced back from a tough day at the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) final to take a huge win over Matt Hauser and Hayden Wilde at WTCS Abu Dhabi today, while Russia’s Diana Isakova ran her way to a second win over Jeanne Lehair in less than a week to take the women’s title. Rounding out the podium was American Gwen Jorgensen, the oldest woman in the field. It was the 2016 gold medalist’s first WTCS podium in over a decade.

Women’s Race

Vittoria Lopes (BRA) and Sophie Evans (GBR) led the way after the choppy swim, with Isakova and Germany’s Laura Lindemann close behind. They would all form a lead group of nine that also included Jeanne Lehair (LUX), Eve Whittaker (GBR), Angelica Prestia (ITA) and Ana Carballo (ESP). That lead group would work really well together, and steadily open up a gap on the chase group that included the likes of Germany’s Nina Eim and Lisa Tertsch, along with Americans Gwen Jorgensen and Gina Sereno.

The bike ride featured extremely windy conditions, which meant that the groups had to work well together to either hold off, or gain any ground.

Coming into transition Lindemann stumbled with her bike, which seemed to affect her transition as Whittaker flew out of T2 in the lead with Isakova close behind. Those two would open a small gap to Lehair and Prestia, but eventually it was the more experienced Isakova and Lehair who would eventually pull ahead to set up a repeat duel from last weekend’s World Cup in Hong Kong.

The difference to last week, though, was that Isakova would be able to pull ahead as she saw the blue carpet in the distance. Lehair, who after the race admitted that she’d expended a lot of energy keeping the lead group working together to stay clear, had no answer to Isakova’s push to the line and had to settle with second.

Behind those two, though, the real excitement was brewing for the final spot on the podium. After coming off the bike roughly 40 seconds down it was Tertsch and Jorgensen who were the big movers from the chase group as they caught up to all but two of the lead pack athletes.

In the end Jorgensen would prove the strongest on the run, posting the day’s fastest run split to move into third. It was her first WTCS podium since taking second at the Grand Final in Cozumel in 2016.

Men’s Race

With all the chop in the water it hardly came as a surprise that a pair of Aussie’s would lead the way out of the water – Matt Hauser cruised onto the beach with a five-second lead over Luke Willian, with Italy’s Alessio Crociani on Willian’s feet and Hidalgo having to chase a little bit into T1 as he finished the swim in ninth, 10 seconds behind Hauser.

Wilde, who has managed to get permission from World Triathlon to compete at both WTCS Abu Dhabi and tomorrow’s T100 Bahrain (they are within 24 hours of each other – normally that’s not allowed with WTCS events if any of the races are Olympic-distance or longer), was part of a big group that hit T2 around 40 seconds back.

As a lead group of 11 was forming at the front, the chase group was rapidly gaining ground – the gap was down to 25 seconds at the end of the first loop. As with the women, the windy conditions were making for some interesting echelon formations out on the course as the men stretched right across the road at times trying to tuck in and escape the wind.

Always powerful on the bike, Wilde exhibited his strength and broke clear of the group for a bit before he was joined by Simon Westermann (SUI), Antonio Serrat Seoane (ESP), Shachar Sagiv (ISR) to create a mini chase group. The four worked really well together and came within a few seconds of catching the lead group by T2, which meant there were 15 men within nine seconds of each other at the end of the ride.

Once out on the run Hauser and Hidalgo quickly showed their class, pulling clear as Wilde and Sagiv set up their own two-man group to battle for the final spot on the podium. Surprisingly it was Hidalgo who made the first move, pulling ahead just before the halfway point of the run and steadily pulling away from Hauser, who was feeling the effects of a long season that included four WTCS wins.

For Hidalgo, the win here felt like he was starting off the 2027 season in style. After a pair of runner-up finishes in Yokohama and Alghero, the Brazilian was never able to get things together and would finish 32nd in Pontevedra, making today’s win all the more satisfying.

“I had a very disappointing season and to start off with the win is very exciting,” he said after the race. “We went back to the basics for the last six weeks – I’m so happy and proud of the work that we’ve done.”

Hauser felt he “executed as well as he could,” so was happy with his runner-up finish, as was Wilde with is podium performance and will follow his warm-down up with a 90-minute drive to Bahrain to get ready for tomorrow’s T100 race.

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