WORLD TRIATHLON Emma Lombardi leads the line for vital World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg

 

On Saturday 13 July, the women’s 2024 World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg will see not just the leading lights of this year’s world championship title charge going shoulder to shoulder for the third time, but several of the names on everyone’s lips for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games gold hitting the blue carpet.

For the 23rd consecutive year the streets of Hamburg will be in thrall to the speed and sights and sounds of world-class triathlon racing, and with defending champion here Cassandre Beaugrand back to her best in Cagliari and Beth Potter looking to continue her pitch-perfect progress to Paris, this year’s edition looks set to be a classic.

The sprint-distance affair begins as ever with the 750m swim that includes a 40m section in near total darkness under the bridge back towards the ramp. From there the fast and flat 20km bike covers six laps before it all boils down to a searing 5km (2-lap) run to the tape.

Watch all the action from 3.55pm CEST pm over on TriathlonLive.tv.

Lombardi leads the line

It is Beaugrand’s French teammate Emma Lombardi who leads the Series and wears the number one this time around, coming in hot off a fourth place in Cagliari and bronze in Yokohama in May. Still only 22 years of age but with one of the coolest heads out there on the circuit, a first Series win surely can’t be far off.

Only one previous appearance in Hamburg was undone by trouble on the bike segment that left Lombardi way off the pace. The fourth fastest run splits in both the Series races so far in 2024 show exactly where she needs to find the gains to hit the gold.

Former Hamburg medallists take aim

Lisa Tertsch is the top-ranked German woman in Hamburg and no stranger to the podium here. One of the fastest runners on the circuit as she proved on route to silver in Cagliari with the top split by a second over Beaugrand, the 25-year-old was also a bronze medallist two years ago.

Beaugrand could be favourite to wrestle that top time over the 5km this weekend, however, after crushing the elimination format last year to claim the second Hamburg gold of her career. The winner in Cagliari, second in the 2023 Series and a clear favourite to medal at a home Games, these are the moments Cassandre Beaugrand will look back on for the rest of her days. Just how far will she go?

The woman who shared the headlines but took the spoils last year and could well have a decisive role to play again this time around is Britain’s Beth Potter.  She may not have been 100% in Cagliari but still took the bronze and is oozing a calm confidence under the spotlight of reigning world champion and Test Event winner. Hamburg will be another fascinating insight into her form and prospects.

Jorgensen and Zaferes headline for USA

Two long-term legends of US triathlon will be able to focus their attentions on the Series after the Olympic proved elusive, two of whom know what it takes to be world champion. For Katie Zaferes and Gwen Jorgensen, the road back to triathlon’s top table has been far from plain sailing, but the journeys have certainly been gripping, and both find themselves on the cusp of the top 20 in the rankings with just one scoring race so far. Jorgensen won here in 2014 and 2015, Zaferes in 2016. Never would a beer shower feel so good as it would to podium again in 2024.

Further medal potential lies with Maya Kingma (NED) and Jeanne Lehair (LUX), both sizing up their Olympic prospects with a Hamburg hit out and knowing they can be as good as anyone on their day.

Expect Kingma to set the pace in the swim along with Italy’s Bianca Seregni and GB duo Kate Waugh and Olivia Mathias. For Waugh, inclusion in the GB team for Paris will still be ringing loud and a third WTCS Hamburg would be the perfect time to shine ahead of the race of her life. Rachel Klamer (11 Hamburg appearances) and Alice Betto (7 appearances to date) have the experience and power to be present, correct and competing for the medals at the pointy end once again on a course they know well.

FULL START LIST

WTCS HAMBURG

13 May, 3.55pm local time

TriathlonLive.tv

https://triathlon.org/events/start_list/2024_world_triathlon_championship_series_hamburg/627965

WORLD TRIATHLON Luke Willian wears the one as world title race and Olympic form chase heads to Hamburg

 

From launching genuine world championship title bids to sharpening the skills that could help snare an Olympic gold at the end of the month, Saturday’s 2024 World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg is set to be another Hanseatic classic.

This will be the 23rd consecutive year that Hamburg has hosted top-tier triathlon on its streets, a remarkable sequence that speaks not just to the popularity of the race among athletes and fans, but the unerring commitment of the city to this great sport and its part in the development of great German athletes consistently hitting the podium here.

Once again it will be a sprint-distance affair, the 750m swim returning towards land via the infamous 40m section of darkness under the bridge at the southern end of the Binnenalster lake. From there, its a tight, technical 20km bike across six laps before the decisive 5km (2-lap) run to the tape.

Watch all the action from 1.50pm on Saturday 13 July on TriathlonLive.tv.

Willian wears the won

For the first time in his career, 27-year-old Luke Willian will wear the coveted number on in a Series racing, marking the Australian’s timely rise to form so far in 2024. If there was little doubt about his ability heading in to 2024, it was the World Cup win in Wollongong followed by WTCS Yokohama bronze that have hammered home his potential for a big season.

Yokohama also ensured his place in Paris on 30 July, allowing Willian the freedom to prepare at his own pace for a huge couple of months into the Games. Coupled with an 8th-place in Cagliari, Willian finds himself Series leader heading to Hamburg and seemingly relishing the chance to shine once again.

Luis with a point to prove

In what he has said will be his final year on the blue carpet, Vincent Luis returns to Hamburg for the 11th time in the French star’s illustrious career. Two golds and three silvers to his name here, Luis will stand on the start line with wounds to heal after missing out on selection for a home games. Expect aggression, determination and a big showing from the two-time world champion in his Hamburg swansong.

On the opposite end of the Hamburg scale, this will be American number one Morgan Pearson’s fourth time racing here, having previously finished 46th (2018), 8th (2020) and 31st (2023). Winner of the season opener in Yokohama and 40th in Cagliari, it is that hitherto missing consistency that he will want to bring from here to Paris as he mounts a serious bid for the world and Olympic titles.

With five top-5 finishes out of his last seven series races, Australian Matthew Hauser also took silver here back in 2022 and is setting himself some serious Olympic targets for Paris. Silver in Yokohama two months ago, another podium here would also establish Hauser as a serious challenger for the world title.

Rising stars seek defining moment

Alberto Gonzalez Garcia will be one to watch for Spain in only his second Hamburg hit out. Having had to wait patiently for regular series starts, some eye-catching runs helped secure his place in Paris, including during a career-best 11th in Cagliari at the end of May and debut World Cup win in Hong Kong.

Of the three German men heading to Paris, Lasse Luhrs will be the only one in Hamburg, giving the likes of Henry Graf and Jan Diener a chance to shine. Pierre le Corre leads the line for France after top 6 in his comeback race in Cagliari secured a Paris start, while Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca will be looking to put the crash in Yokohama firmly behind him and deliver another fiery finish like we saw here a year ago on route to silver. After four series podiums and silver in the Paris Test Event, a first Series win would do wonders for his Olympic build up.

Plenty of past series podium power will be eyeing a return to glory this weekend, including Jelle Geens of Belgium, Canada’s Tyler Mislawchuk, Manoel Messias of Brazil, Netherlands’ Richard Murray and the Moroccan who lit up the 2022 edition, Jawad Abdelmoula. The next generation also gets its shot in the form of series debutants Mathis Beaulieu (CAN) and reigning Junior World Champion (on this very course) Joao Nuno Batista (POR).

FULL START LIST

WTCS HAMBURG

13 May, 1.50pm local time

TriathlonLive.tv

https://triathlon.org/events/start_list/2024_world_triathlon_championship_series_hamburg/627964