Germany’s Rico Bogen defended his San Francisco T100 title in brilliant style as he ran out the winner over compatriot Lasse Nygaard Priester in California, with reigning T100 men’s champion Hayden Wilde in third.
Wilde had won seven of his previous eight T100 races but he was never able to get in the mix here having been under the weather in the build-up after a virus ruled him out of last weekend’s WTCS Alghero.
But Bogen would have been a tough nut to crack for even a 100% Wilde as he continued his amazing record in San Francisco after being part of that epic three-way sprint finish in 2024 before taking the victory 12 months ago.
Once again it was on the bike where he effectively won the race – powering clear of his rivals before closing it out on the run despite the best efforts of T100 debutant Priester whose hopes were scuppered by having to serve a penalty late on.
Here’s how a dramatic race played out…
Swim – Pearson shows the way
It was a 6.35am start local time and conditions were almost perfect early on as the sun came up.
We again had the novel start of the athletes jumping off a boat and into San Francisco Bay in the shadow of Alcatraz.
The currents were again in the athletes’ favour and we had rapid times over the point-to-point 2km, with local hero Morgan Pearson (USA) leading the way.
With the choice of different angles to the shore after the last turn buoy, he went most direct way and then made the most of the long run to transition to take the lead, just as he had last year.
Léo Bergere (FRA) was his closest rival but Wilde had a minute to make up after T1 after struggling to get his wetsuit off in what at this point were chilly conditions.
There was also what would prove a noteworthy penalty for Priester – 30 seconds for equipment outside the box in T1.
Bike – Bogen a class apart
There was nearly early drama on the first of six bike laps when Bogen and Priester almost collided – how that could have changed the race.
But when things settled down that duo had nearly half a minute to the rest after the opening lap.
Wilde actually clocked the quickest first lap but from then onwards he gradually lost time to Bogen and Priester.
After four laps Bogen was 1:05 up on Priester, with Wilde at +3:16 in third and Aussie duo Jake Birtwhistle and Kurt McDonald alongside him while Henry Räppo (EST) and Bergere were not far behind.
However Bergere’s hopes were dealt a blow by a 60-second drafting penalty but to his huge credit he would work his way back to the same group by T2.
Bogen was relentless up front though as he kept the hammer down and by the end of the bike he was 2:25 ahead of Priester (who still had that penalty to serve).
Wilde overtook Bergere late on and was 5:35 down, with the Frenchman at 5:43, Räppo at +5:58, McDonald at +6:00, Birtwhistle +6:15 and Will Draper (GBR) eighth at +7:09.
And of the quickest runners further back – Pearson was +7:32 in 11th and Jason West (USA) was +7:54 in 14th.
Run – Priester pays the penalty
Priester – even with that penalty to come – clearly looked the biggest threat to Bogen on the 18km run which was mostly on gravel and took place in what were now blustery conditions.
He had been more than four minutes quicker than Bogen over 21km at 70.3 Aix-en-Provence just last month run when they were third and second respectively.
And on the first of four laps the gap did start to come down – but only by a tiny margin. However on lap two it really did start to move, with 1:36 between them.
Wilde meanwhile was still more than four minutes back in third and Pearson had run his way up to fourth, a further couple of minutes adrift.
But at the end of the third lap the gap was still 1:23 and this was the moment that Priester elected to serve his 30-seconds penalty.
When he sprinted out of the tent he had just over 4km to run and now a fraction under two minutes to try and claw back.
It was a fantastic effort by the German as he continued his incredible comeback to the sport after a serious heart scare but when the line came he was 1:06 behind Bogen.
Wilde kept on well for a hugely creditable third given the circumstances, with uber runners Pearson and West fourth and fifth respectively. The full results and splits are below.
San Francisco T100 results – Pro men
Saturday 6 June, 2026 – 2km/80km/18km
| Position | Athlete | Nationality | Swim | Bike | Run | Overall Time | Gap to Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rico Bogen | GER | 17:54 | 1:55:34 | 1:00:35 | 3:17:25 | — |
| 2 | Lasse Nygaard Priester | GER | 17:53 | 1:57:58 | 59:09 | 3:18:30 | +1:05 |
| 3 | Hayden Wilde | NZL | 18:27 | 2:00:25 | 58:44 | 3:21:13 | +3:48 |
| 4 | Morgan Pearson | USA | 17:42 | 2:03:22 | 58:15 | 3:22:42 | +5:17 |
| 5 | Jason West | USA | 17:59 | 2:03:13 | 58:17 | 3:23:02 | +5:37 |
| 6 | Jake Birtwhistle | AUS | 17:57 | 2:01:30 | 1:00:13 | 3:23:23 | +5:58 |
| 7 | Kurt McDonald | AUS | 18:32 | 2:00:46 | 1:00:48 | 3:23:44 | +6:19 |
| 8 | Henry Räppo | EST | 17:50 | 2:01:30 | 1:01:17 | 3:24:16 | +6:51 |
| 9 | Gregor Payet | LUX | 19:35 | 2:01:08 | 1:00:39 | 3:25:06 | +7:41 |
| 10 | Léo Bergere | FRA | 17:43 | 2:01:01 | 1:03:13 | 3:25:47 | +8:22 |
Updated T100 standings
(after two men’s races)
| Position | Athlete | Nationality | Singapore points | San Francisco points | Series Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hayden Wilde | NZL | 35 | 26 | 61 |
| 2 | Jake Birtwhistle | AUS | 18 | 18 | 36 |
| 3 | Rico Bogen | GER | 0 | 35 | 35 |
| 4 | Lasse Nygaard Priester | GER | 0 | 29 | 29 |
| 5 | Sam Dickinson | GBR | 29 | 0 | 29 |
| 6 | Kurt McDonald | AUS | 11 | 16 | 27 |
| 7 | Mika Noodt | GER | 26 | 0 | 26 |
| 8 | Gregor Payet | LUX | 12 | 12 | 24 |
| 9 | Morgan Pearson | USA | 0 | 23 | 23 |
| 10 | Menno Koolhaas | NED | 23 | 0 | 23 |
