It’s game on in the men’s WTS title race after Matt Hauser bagged his third straight win in Hamburg at the weekend to close the gap on Vasco Vilaca.
There was a real sense of deja vu as the big Aussie once again outkicked his Portuguese opponent in the closing stages – the fourth consecutive time Vilaca has had to settle for the silver medal in Hamburg.
An early-season foray into T100 and then a crash at WTCS Alghero had threatened to derail Hauser’s hopes of retaining his WTCS crown but both he and Vilaca now have two victories apiece, though the latter leads the way as the table below illustrates.
With 2024 world champ Alex Yee out of contention as well as Hayden Wilde, the man he beat to Olympic gold in Paris, it really does look like a shootout between Hauser and Vilaca.
‘A long way to go’
It’s advantage Vilaca at the moment – with points in the bank he can pick and choose his route to the Grand Final in Pontevedra.
But Hauser is closing fast – so much so that just two more podium places will ensure he can defend his title with a win in Pontevedra.
And it’s worth pointing out that Hauser has not finished behind Vilaca since those Paris Olympics, albeit the Portuguese has moved up a level in 2026 with his first two WTCS wins.
“It’s been a magical ride for me here in Hamburg,’ said Hauser after Saturday’s success. “Alghero was obviously a big disappointment for me but it’s good to be back racing and my team and I worked hard up at altitude and knew we had to come here and get a good result and good points on the board.
“It’s not easy to drop Vasco and Henry [Graf, who was third], guys of that calibre – I’m coming from the bottom up [of the rankings] this time, and there’s a long way to go.”
WTCS standings after Hamburg (which is race 5)
| Position | Athlete | Nationality | Total events | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vasco Vilaca | POR | 4 | 3850.00 |
| 2 | Miguel Hidalgo | BRA | 3 | 2582.09 |
| 3 | Ricardo Batista | POR | 4 | 2470.62 |
| 4 | Henry Graf | GER | 3 | 2407.03 |
| 5 | Charles Paquet | CAN | 3 | 2319.81 |
| 6 | Dorian Coninx | FRA | 3 | 2018.80 |
| 7 | Matthew Hauser | AUS | 2 | 2000.00 |
| 8 | Luke Willian | AUS | 4 | 1914.62 |
| 9 | Tom Richard | FRA | 3 | 1850.14 |
| 10 | Vetle Bergsvik Thorn | NOR | 3 | 1810.22 |
