Two weeks after the belated WTCS season opener in Yokohama, the action is moving to Cagliari. Following the addition of Weihai in place of Montreal later in the year, Cagliari will be the second of three standard distance races in the regular season. For the winner, 1000 points will be on the line and the race could prove pivotal in determining the 2024 World Champions.

As a reminder, athletes will carry their three best results across races in the Series, Olympics and Continental Championships into the WTCS Final in Torremolinos-Andalucia in October.
Alongside world title considerations, Cagliari will be a significant moment in the path to the Olympics. It will stand as the final standard distance WTCS race before the action in Paris; only the sprint-distance WTCS Hamburg will separate the two events. Furthermore, national selection will be on the line for several athletes, including the vaunted British team.

Before you catch all the action on TriathlonLive, check out some of the headlining stars and major stories to follow below.

The world champions and their teams

Cagliari had attracted both of the reigning world champions however Dorian Coninx (FRA) is out after sustaining a fractured wrist and elbow in the final lap bike pile-up in Yokohama. Beth Potter (GBR) will nonetheless start in Cagliari although she did not make the podium in the 2023 instalment of the event. As it happens, that was the only time Potter appeared at a WTCS race last year without winning a medal. Considering she will want to assert her world and Olympic credentials, look for her to try to make a statement this time round.

Potter has a full complement of British teammates in Cagliari. WTCS gold medallists Georgia Taylor-Brown and Sophie Coldwell have the ability to fight for the world title but first will have to battle to make the Olympic team. Kate Waugh and Olivia Mathias will complete the British women’s squad in Cagliari and could spring an upset on their teammates. At the same time, Taylor-Brown remains unbeaten in Cagliari and will be gunning for a third consecutive win in Sardinia.

Meanwhile, in Coninx’s place, France will be represented by three past WTCS race winners. Vincent Luis, Leo Bergere and Pierre Le Corre have all won WTCS races since November 2022 and could fight for the win. On paper at least, Coninx and Le Corre will be in Paris, leaving Luis, Bergere and Tom Richard to fight for the third and final slot on the French team this weekend.

The pretenders to the throne

Potter’s closest rivals from 2023, Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) and Emma Lombardi (FRA), will be in Cagliari. Lombardi has won medals in both of her prior appearances at the race while Beaugrand is no stranger to the podium herself. They will be joined by Leonie Periault (FRA) who races after a magnificent victory at WTCS Yokohama,

Taylor Knibb (USA), Summer Rappaport (USA) and Taylor Spivey (USA) each won WTCS medals in 2023 - Knibb also added a silver in Yokohama two weeks ago - and will look to push Potter. Kirsten Kasper will also be racing for the American team after nabbing 5th place in Yokohama while former world champion Katie Zaferes (USA) will make her WTCS bow for 2024.

Moreover, Laura Lindemann (GER) and Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal (MEX) will be starting. Both made it onto the podium at WTCS events last year and will seek to serve a reminder of their abilities ahead of the Olympic Games.

On the men’s side, Hayden Wilde (NZL) and Alex Yee (GBR) are the obvious contenders for the gold. The former was narrowly denied the gold medal in Cagliari last year by the latter. While payback will be on Wilde’s mind, Yee has yet to lose in Cagliari. As yet, neither Wilde nor Yee have won a world title but both will be certain that 2024 will be their year. Joining Wilde for New Zealand will be Tayler Reid. Barclay Izzard and Samuel Dickinson are among the key names to bolster Yee’s British male contingent.

Matthew Hauser (AUS), the winner of WTCS Montreal in 2023 and silver medallist in Yokohama, is a surprise absence. Nevertheless, Morgan Pearson (USA) and Luke Willian (AUS) are racing after their respective gold and bronze medals in Yokohama and both will seek further glory. Moreover, further WTCS medallists from last year will step up to present challenges of their own.

Manoel Messias (BRA) won two medals last season and claimed his first ever WTCS medal in Cagliari back in 2022. With his running prowess, he could feature prominently if the field stays together. The final WTCS medallist from 2023 slated to start in Cagliari is Tim Hellwig (GER). A memorable medal in Pontevedra last September announced Hellwig as a star-in-waiting. Capable of competing in virtually any style of race, it would be a shock for him not to figure when the medals are decided this weekend.

The World Cup crew

While the stars of 2023 will hope for similar results in 2024, those that have proven their form in 2024 will be champing at the bit to translate their more recent success to the WTCS stage.
Zaferes will start in Cagliari having earned the silver medal at the World Cup in Hong Kong while Lindemann nabbed the gold at the Lievin World Cup. The winners of the men’s races at both events will also be starting. Alberto Gonzalez Garcia (ESP) converted a bronze medal at the Napier World Cup into gold in Hong Kong. A week later, Vetle Bergsvik Thorn (NOR) claimed a win of his own in Lievin.

Tilda Månsson (SWE) will also be an intriguing athlete to watch. The rising Swedish prodigy won the Wollongong World Cup and backed it up with a silver medal at the Chengdu World Cup and then a bronze at the Samarkand World Cup. Now Månsson will be starting in Cagliari and will plan to deploy her sensational running speed to her advantage. At the same time, Julie Derron (SUI), the woman that beat Månsson to gold in Chengdu, will also be present and hunting a maiden WTCS medal of her own. 

With countless big names and athletes holding hot hands starting, Cagliari promises a fairly spectacular show to bring the Olympic qualification window to a close. You can view the men’s start list here and the women’s start list here.