Matt Hauser right where he wants to be as he closes in on first world title

Matt Hauser knows that one more big performance will net him the WTCS world title for the first time in his career.

The Aussie star has got better and better in the last few years but Sunday’s win at WTCS French Riviera looked to be a real statement success.

For fresh from his win at Supertri Toronto it was Olympic champion Alex Yee’s first – and probably only – WTCS event of the season.

And Hayden Wilde was back too after his injury layoff and in winning form after two brilliant T100 victories.

So all eyes on Hauser then who, in their absence, had won both WTCS Yokohama and Hamburg.

And how delivered in France. He was aggressive from the outset as he drove the swim and then forged a breakaway on the bike which ultimately put Yee and Wilde out of contention.

He then rounded it off in trademark style as he finally burnt off Vasco Vilaca on the run.

Quality win against quality field

That put him on a perfect score of 3,000 points ahead of the Grand Final on home turf in Woolongong as he looks to add a senior world title to the junior one he won in 2017.

And writing this week on Instagram, he said: “Stoked to execute another solid performance to take out WTCS French Riviera in a top quality field!

“Pushed all the way by the two lads as I have been all year @vascovilaca and @miguellhidalgo.

“Excited to hang out in Nice for a week before heading to Karlovy Vary on the next stop of the World Series! Max points in the series for me now so the prep is all about the Gong in October.”

And speaking in more detail to World Triathlon’s Doug Gray he ran through what looked a perfectly-executed race, saying: “It was good to have that ocean swim – as an Aussie I really loved that bit of chop out there with the wind, so it definitely suited my strengths.

“But I mean there’s, death, taxes and Márk Dévay coming past at the second bouy – it’s like I take the first part and have a good start, and then he kind of comes through and takes the pace from there. So credit to him. He’s always been a great swimmer and doesn’t get a lot of credit that he deserves.

“The bike was an interesting one. My chainstay was cracked in travel and I had to go borrow a bike so thanks to the guys at Specialized who sorted me out with that.

“I wasn’t expecting a bit of a bike breakaway, but 10 of us got working. Credit to Henry [Graf] and Márk Dévay again, who did the majority of the work out there.”

All roads lead to Woolongong

There was still lots of work to do on the run though, with Vilaca again throwing everything at the Aussie.

Hauser added: “I had that belief in my run ability, but I think the heat kind of caught up with me towards the end. I didn’t want Vasco sticking around and I almost blew it by going a bit too soon. Vasco chases all the way. He’s a hard, hard bugger to shake!

“He was coming back but as soon as I hit that blue carpet I knew it was right to the finish line. So, yeah, it was good to get a win. Let’s get the job done in Woolongong now.”