In the absence of the Frenchwoman Cassandre Beaugrand and the British Beth Potter, THE 2 best triathletes in the world at the moment, the stage of the world triathlon circuit in Yokohama which launches the season after the cancellation of the meeting in Abu Dhabi promises to be very open.
The French Emma Lombardi who inherits bib number 1 can claim their first victory on the WTCS circuit, 3rd last year in the final general classification, the member of Vals Dauphiné Olympic came very close to the selection criteria for the Olympic Games.
Among the other contenders for victory or the podium, we will have to count on the Briton Kate Waugh 2nd during the 2023 WTCS final in Pontevedra (6th in the final ranking) and the German Laura Lindemann (3rd in the Paris Test Event and winner of the Indoor World Cup in Liévin a few weeks ago).
The American Taylor Spivey 4th in the series last year thanks to three podiums also dreams of a first victory on the circuit.
Also watch the Germans Lisa Tertsch (4th in the Pontevedra final and winner of the Quarteira European Cup this year) and Nina Eim (6th in the Paris Test Event) without forgetting the Frenchwoman Léonie Périault4th in the Liévin World Cup this winter.
The American Gwen Jorgensen2016 Olympic champion of the Rio Games will also be at the start with ambitions just like the 3rd Frenchwoman in the running Audrey Merle which is making its return to the WTCS circuit after more than a year of absence, its last participation dates back to November 2022 in Bermuda.
Among the men, in the absence of Pierre Le Corre, Dorian Coninx, who met the criteria to be selected last year, will be the only Frenchman to be able to definitively validate his selection for the Olympic Games. To do this, the reigning world champion will have to finish in the Top 6 of the race, a mission totally within his reach without the presence of the New Zealander Hayden Wilde, the Briton Alex Yee and the German Tim Helwig.
3rd in the world series last year after winning it in 2022, Leo Bergerewho did not meet the Olympic criteria last year, will have the mission to obtain the best possible ranking to score valuable points for the Games.
The two other French people involved, Vincent Luis and Tom Richardwill absolutely have to compete with the best if they still want to have a chance of being at the Olympic meeting this summer in Paris.
The main opponents of the Blues will be the Portuguese Vasco Vilaca (4th in the WTCS series and the Paris Test Event in 2023), the Australian Matthew Hauser (victorious in Montreal last year), the reigning Olympic champion the Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt (9th in the Paris Test Event), the Hungarian Csongor Lehmann (7th in the final in Pontevedra in 2023) and the Spaniard Miguel Hidalgo (6th in the final in Pontevedra in 2023).
In para triathlon, 14 French people (including 3 guides) will be at the start in Yokohama, 2nd stage of the World Triathlon Para Series of the year after Devonport and the cancellation of Abu Dhabi.
State of play and forces present and challenges in the company of Nicolas Becker, head of the French para triathlon team :
“ Alexis Hanquinquant And Pierre-Antoine Baele who wish to continue their domination in PTS4. Among PTS2, Geoffrey Wersy And Stéphane Bahier could repeat the double achieved in 2023, but we will have to be wary of the American Barr. In PTVI, Thibaut Rigaudeau and Cyril Viennot will once again face Ellis, the English world champion. They have the capacity to make him doubt.
In women, Annouck Curzillat and Julie Marano have a plan to implement to stay in the top three. For Héloïse Courvoisier and Anne Henrietthe objective is to gain as many places as possible at the end of the race among a high density in Japan, it is interesting for the future.
Podiums are also expected in PTS5 with Gwladys Lemoussu and in PTS3 with Michael Herter. The biggest challenge will certainly be for the PTWC: Mona Francis and Louis Noel. We know how difficult World Series podiums are to obtain, it will take flawless performance to get there, but they are capable of it. »
Program for this Saturday, May 11 in Yokohama:
6:50 a.m. (Friday 11:50 p.m. French time): WTPS Para triathlon start
10:15 a.m. (3:15 a.m. French time): WTCS Women start
1:00 p.m. (6 a.m. French time) :: WTCS Men start
1,500m swim (2 loops) – 40km bike (9 loops) – 10km run (4 loops)
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