One year ago, Yokohama was a place where dreams came true as Morgan Pearson claimed a first ever WTCS win, Luke Willian stamped his Olympic ticket with a surprise medal and several others – such as Kenji Nener – likewise secured their Paris places. Or at least that is one way of looking at the race. For others it was a very different story. The then-defending world champion Dorian Coninx and Olympic contender Vasco Vilaca saw their Olympic plans undone in seconds during a late bike crash, while world champions Vincent Luis and Kristian Blummenfelt showed the first signs that their Paris hopes were not to be.
The stakes may be a little different heading into Yokohama this year, but the ambitions of the men starting burn just as strong. Comebacks, showdowns and the world title – or even a double world title if we dare to dream – are on the line. Find out below who will hope their race is the stuff of dreams rather than of nightmares.
Who’s there?
Hayden Wilde is back again and will be the man to beat in Yokohama. He won his last outing at the race in 2023 and comes into this edition on the back of victories at WTCS Abu Dhabi and T100 Singapore. Another gold medal seems to beckon. He will be joined on the New Zealand team by Tayler Reid who notably was a major help to Wilde’s breakaway success at WTCS Torremolinos at the end of last year.
The rest of the Abu Dhabi podium will also be competing in Yokohama. Matthew Hauser took the silver medal at the season opener and has since added the Oceania title to his medal collection. He and Luke Willian memorably made the podium last year and will look to perform a similar trick this time out. The Australian team will also have Napier World Cup medallist Callum McClusky starting.
Vasco Vilaca has a wrong to right in Yokohama. The bronze medallist at WTCS Abu Dhabi was on course for a great race at the event last year until a crash derailed him and much of his summer. Look for him to impress alongside Ricardo Batista and Miguel Tiago Silva in the Portuguese colours.
Dorian Coninx is in the same boat after being brought down by the same crash as Vilaca. The 2023 world champion has only raced once in the WTCS since his crash. That appearance yielded a 4th place finish at the WTCS Final in Torremolinos, indicating that the Frenchman had rediscovered some of his best form.
His compatriot Leo Bergere will also have a dose of revenge on his mind, namely against Wilde having finished 2nd behind him in both Singapore and Torremolinos. Bergere memorably took the fight to Wilde on the run at the 2023 edition of WTCS Yokohama before fading. With Yanis Seguin and Tom Richard also racing for France, there is more than enough talent and drive on the team to beat Wilde.
Then we come to another obvious challenger for the gold; Morgan Pearson won last year and cannot be ignored. His run split last year of 29:11 is actually the third fastest at Yokohama since 2020, behind only Alex Yee and Wilde. If this comes down to a running contest, Pearson has shown what he can do. John Reed, Darr Smith and Chase McQueen form the rest of the American contingent.
Miguel Hidalgo and Kaue Willy will be racing for Brazil in Yokohama. The former established himself as one of the quickest men ever over the Ironman 70.3 distance recently and won a maiden WTCS medal last year in Weihai. Chances are he will have something up his sleeve. Similarly, Csongor Lehmann is another athlete racing after taking a first ever WTCS medal last season. At the same time, his Hungarian teammates Márk Dévay and Bence Bicsák could be ones to watch as they look to dispel the hurt of missing out on the Paris Olympics.
The field is packed with contenders no matter where you look on the start list. Henry Graf could hardly have dreamed of a better start to the year. After finishing 4th in Abu Dhabi, anchoring Germany’s Mixed Team Relay win, and then winning the Indoor World Cup in Lievin, what more does he have in store?
WTCS medallist Antonio Serrat Seoane and the winner of the Napier World Cup David Castro Fajardo will be racing for Spain. Hugo Milner, already one of the fastest runners ever in the WTCS, and Ben Dijkstra, who made an impressive Series debut in Abu Dhabi, will lead a four-strong British contingent. World Cup winner Takumi Hojo and the evergreen Kenji Nener likewise will be at the forefront of a seven-man home team. Throw in the likes of Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN) and Diego Moya (CHI) and even making the top-10 will be a tall ask.
Who’s not there?
The 2022 race winner, Alex Yee, will be absent as the race comes too soon after his planned marathon debut in London this weekend. The 2021 victor Kristian Blummenfelt is another to opt out of the action.
After top-5 finishes at the Paris Olympic Games and the WTCS Final, Pierre Le Corre is evidently looking to peak later in the season and is keeping his powder dry at this point in the year. WTCS medallists Tim Hellwig and Lasse Lührs are two others to delay the start of their season, with the former still recovering from knee surgery. Finally, David Cantero del Campo, the fastest runner in Abu Dhabi, will skip Yokohama, as will his Spanish teammate Alberto Gonzalez Garcia.
Four talking points
Wilde continues to tease
At the same point in the run-in to WTCS Abu Dhabi, we wondered if Hayden Wilde could target world titles in both the WTCS and T100. After winning both season openers is it too early to get a little excited that it might actually happen?
Wilde has a strong record in Yokohama. Indeed, he won his first ever Series medal there in 2022. With its flat course that rewards both his bike power and running speed, he could hardly have asked for a better second dip into the WTCS this year. Crucially, he only needs three in-season performances before scoring at the Series Final to set up his world title hunt. Another win here will therefore put him only one performance away from having everything to play for in Wollongong in October.
An upset at the Lievin Indoor World Cup aside – which is a very different style of racing anyway – Wilde has looked imperious this season. Let’s see if he can keep this improbable dream alive.
Insert synonym for curse
How superstitious is everyone feeling today? Ahead of WTCS Abu Dhabi we flagged that on only one occasion has the race winner (when held at the start of the campaign) has gone on to claim the overall men’s title. Something similar may be unfolding in Yokohama. Since 2020, the only winner of Yokohama to claim the world title in the same year was Kristian Blummenfelt in 2021. As such, gold at the venue may not be the best omen for the favourites’ Series prospects.
On the other hand, this is very much a recent trend. Between 2014 and 2019, every men’s winner in Yokohama went on to win the world title. Meanwhile, Gwen Jorgensen in 2016 and Flora Duffy in 2018 were the only women to not go on to the Series crown after striking Yokohama gold. For quite some time, then, Yokohama was more of a banker when it came to setting up a world title shot. Will 2025 see a reversion to the old pattern, or did something break Yokohama’s lucky charm in 2020?
Matt Hauser
Hauser is another athlete that has a very good record in Yokohama, finishing 4th, 2nd and 2nd across the past three seasons. The Australian has been tipped for great things in the sport for several years now and after ticking off a WTCS win in each of the past two campaigns (both over the sprint distance) this could be the year he fully delivers on his promise.
A first win in Yokohama would get him over the hump over the standard distance in addition to taking that final step at a favoured location. Moreover, following Abu Dhabi, three of Hauser’s four WTCS silver medals have come behind Wilde. He therefore will look to correct several patterns in Japan next month and, if he does, momentum in the world title race may suddenly veer in his direction.
No country for old (or young) men
The men’s start list in Yokohama both follows the expectations of a post-Olympic year while also confounding them. Only eight men born before 1995 will be racing, broadly following the pattern of experienced athletes moving on after completing their Olympic journeys. However, only five U23 athletes will be starting, two of which are in their final years in the category. Far from space being created for a new generation to come through, the field is dominated by athletes either in or close to their primes.
39 of the starters, or 75% of the field, are born between 1995 and 2001. This cohort is the crux of the field that will most likely be at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. It seems any notion of flux in the post-Olympic year will need to be forgotten. With this age and experience profile, a full-blooded race where no one lets up for a second will be on the cards.
Watch all the action live on TriathlonLive on 17th May and stay informed with all the latest developments across all World Triathlon channels. View the full men’s start lists here.
