The final weeks before the season begins are the crucial moment when the magic trick begins. This is the time to watch closely, to pay attention, to see everything. Because before you know it, the trick will have been played and everything we thought we knew at this stage will be turned on its head.
How many predicted this time two years ago Dorian Coninx’s stunning charge from behind to win the 2023 world title? Who anticipated Pierre Le Corre becoming the oldest first-time WTCS gold medallist that same year? And despite following their battles for years, did anyone truly foresee the rollercoaster that was the contest between Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde last year?
If there’s one thing to trust, it is that anything could happen this season. In this article, we make our attempt to identify some of the men that may play starring roles. This being triathlon, though, chances are someone will come along and produce something both unexpected and jaw-dropping.
WTCS: an open door?
When it comes to the simple question of who will win the men’s World Triathlon Championship Series in 2025, it feels like there are only wrong answers at this stage. The men that made last year’s overall podium, and indeed the Olympic individual podium, surely stand as the favourites. Yee, Wilde and Leo Bergere have proven themselves to be the men to beat and have won the most WTCS medals since the start of 2022. As such, backing them seems logical enough. Yet there is a catch.
All three have publicly committed themselves to alternative challenges. Yee will be targeting the London Marathon in April while Wilde and Bergere have signed as Hot Shots in the T100. On their day, the trio could definitely win WTCS races. The question is, will they race enough to be in with a shout of claiming the world title?
The door therefore hangs ajar for someone to seize the moment. Coninx is an obvious candidate as he seems to banish the disappointment of his injury-struck 2024. Matthew Hauser enters this season having won WTCS races in both 2023 and 2024. Vasco Vilaca likewise has become a prominent threat and won four WTCS medals alone in 2023.
In addition, Csongor Lehmann and Miguel Hidalgo won their first ever WTCS medals last season and will look to push on. Throw in the rising World U23 champion, David Cantero del Campo, as a dark horse, and the picture becomes blurrier still. Any of this group, or even someone else, could win the WTCS. We will simply have to wait and see who seizes their moment.
World Cup: hunting a first gold
For the younger cohort, a first World Cup win will be in the sights of many. Few should look past Ricardo Batista, the 2019 World Junior champion. The Portuguese athlete finished 6th at the Olympic Games last year and claimed the European title over the super sprint distance. As a multiple World Cup medallist to boot, it is surely a matter of when, not if, he earns his first win on the circuit.
How about his brother? The younger Batista, Joao Nuno, won the World Junior Championships in 2023 and claimed back-to-back European Junior titles in 2023 and 2024. Last year, he also finished in the top-5 on his World Cup debut in Huatulco. Such has been his meteoric rise thus far, perhaps the younger Batista might be the first of the brothers to win a World Cup.
Gergely Kiss has twice finished on the World U23 Championship podium, in 2022 and 2024, and seems ready to take the next step in his career. Having gained experience on the World Cup circuit in recent times, he could follow in the footsteps of his illustrious compatriot Csongor Lehmann.
Then there is Henry Graf. The young German was a serial winner on the Continental Cup stage in 2024 and was part of the team that powered to gold at the World Mixed Team Relay Championships. He, like Kiss and the Batistas, will likely be at the forefront of the group pushing for a maiden World Cup victory.
Para triathlon: the Unbeatables, the Unpickables
Men’s racing in para triathlon this year looks as if it will be a tale of two halves. On the one hand, we have the Unbeatables, the athletes that hold their class with a vice-grip. Dave Ellis (PTVI) was flawless last year as he claimed the Paralympic, world and European titles while the indomitable Jetze Plat (PTWC) remains a class apart on his day. Alexis Hanquinquant (PTS4) is another member of this group; the Frenchman has claimed a cool 44 victories from 52 international starts over the years.
On the other side of the scale, we have the Unpickables: the categories in which it is too hard to confidently pick who will emerge triumphant this season. In the PTS5 class, Paralympic champion Chris Hammer and world champion Stefan Daniel will renew their rivalry. With Paralympic medallist Ronan Cordeiro, up-and-coming World Championship medallist Jack Howel and more in the hunt, the action could be a real scrap.
Similarly, the PTS3 class is abundant with talent. Paralympic champion Daniel Molina will have to hold off the rise of newly-crowned world champion Henry Urand. Max Gelhaar of Germany is one that could stun both Molina and Urand on his day.
Multisport: from Townsville to Pontevedra
This year’s World Multisport Championships will take place in Pontevedra at the end of June and the racing will be eagerly awaited. Michele Bonacina will aim to defend the cross triathlon and cross duathlon titles he so stylishly won in Australia. The Spanish duo of Antonio Benito Lopez and Kevin Tarek Vinuela will also be among the favourites in the long distance triathlon and aquathlon events after winning in 2024.
Another Spanish athlete, Javier Martin Morales, will look to repeat as world champion in the duathlon event. Equally, such was the fine margin of his victory over Benjamin Choquert, another tight battle will probably be in store.
Young talent to watch
It is rare for an athlete to make an impression on the world stage in their first year out of the junior ranks, but not impossible. David Cantero del Campo won the Valencia World Cup in 2023 in his first post-junior campaign while Mathis Beaulieu made the podium in Huatulco last year at the same stage. Who, then, from the new crop of rising youngsters might join this select club?
Joao Nuno Batista is an obvious candidate from the class of 2005. He will be joined by the 2024 World Junior champion Nils Serre Gehri and the silver medallist from Torremolinos, Reese Vannerson. All three of these men have actually medalled twice at the World Junior Championships (Batista in 2021, Vannerson in 2022, Serre Gehri in 2023) and are armed with extraordinary running speed. Should they unleash their full potential against their older rivals this year, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
