A day after a pair of electrifying races launched the 2025 WTCS season, the Mixed Team Relay was back in the spotlight for the first time since the Paris Olympics. The World Series event in Abu Dhabi was a moment of change in multiple respects, from the switch of the relay order (with women now leading off) to the wholesale changes to the various teams’ line-ups. Here, we delve into some of the lessons we learned.
New era begins
For plenty of athletes in Abu Dhabi, this was the first time they had contested the team event at this level. The likes of Selina Klamt, Beth Cook and Euan De Nigro, among others, made the step up as their respective federations looked to build towards the 2028 Olympic Games.
Of the reigning Olympic medallists in the event, only the American team contained any Paris representation through Morgan Pearson and Taylor Spivey. Whereas the American, British and German teams opted to blood youth and test them early in the new cycle, many teams faced the challenge of replacing fixtures of their relays seemingly lost for good.
The Dutch quartet had the challenge of replacing Rachel Klamer and Richard Murray, both of whom were so important to securing Paris qualification. Luna De Bruin and Gjalt Panjer stepped up well in their stead. De Nigro had to come in for Gianluca Pozzatti for the Italian quartet. Meanwhile, Belgium had possibly the sternest task as they faced the need to replace Jelle Geens, Claire Michel and Marten Van Riel. With the first race of the new era in the books, though, the teams will have gained plenty of feedback ahead of this year’s big test at the World Championships.
MVP Neubert
Notwithstanding that they were helped by a crash that took three of the five leading teams out of the race and sidetracked the other two, Team Germany roared back from nowhere with a stunning comeback in Abu Dhabi. At the heart of all that was Tanja Neubert.
Fresh off a 6th place finish in the individual race, Neubert unleashed a massive performance, carrying the team essentially single-handedly and handing over a lead to Henry Graf after exiting the water in last place. Moreover, her total split of 23:45 made her the only woman under 24 minutes and the clear point of difference. For his part, Graf’s 21:37 was the fastest male split of the day and achieved in a bold solo effort. But Neubert’s effort was the one that broke Germany’s rivals. It was therefore little wonder that her teammates hailed her their MVP (Most Valuable Performer) after the race.
Prisoner's dilemma
While Graf powered away to victory on the final leg, four teams clustered together behind him. Alongside Pearson, Panjer and De Nigro was WTCS medallist Roberto Sanchez Mantecon in a group more than capable of causing the lone German plenty of difficulty. However, in a classic case of prisoner's dilemma, the four chasers were unable to trust one another and so let Graf escape.
With the risk of missing the podium on the line, the quartet were not able to work together coherently. Each took turns to attack one another before sitting up and watching for a counter-move and, as a result, Graf was able to turn a 13 second lead into one of 35 seconds by the end of the bike. For all of Graf’s talent, when one man out-rides a pack of four, that usually has more to do with the chasers’ decision making than any other factor. In this case, the fear of 4th was clearly a greater presence in the chasers’ minds than the lure of gold.
Treacherous moments
As mentioned earlier, a crash on the first lap of the bike during the second leg brought down the leading five teams in one fell swoop. At this stage it seems that those that fell have luckily not suffered too much damage in what was a nasty tumble around a tight corner.
While it is not how most fans want to see races decided, it remains a part of the high-speed game that is the relay. In many ways, it was reminiscent of the Paris Olympics where a crash for the French team undermined the pre-race favourites and reshaped the race. For teams across the field, two lessons can be taken from both instances.
The first is the repeated emphasis on the importance of bike handling. Crashes can always happen but with the relay being that bit shorter and faster, the degree of risk is slightly elevated. For those leading, it becomes a risk that has to be balanced against dropping those behind. For those further back, though, the crash in Abu Dhabi is another reminder of how suddenly the relay can turn on its head and how few causes are ever truly hopeless. For if there is one thing we learned in Abu Dhabi, it is that anything can happen.
