Hayden Wilde produced another T100 masterclass as he ran away from his rivals to notch a fifth straight victory in the latest race in Wollongong.
The Kiwi, who has looked in a class of his own in this sphere ever since his remarkable return from a horror bike crash, has now won in Singapore, London, French Riviera, Spain and now in New South Wales.
He was in a decent position after the swim, moved to the head of affairs on the bike alongside Mika Noodt and then eased away from the German on the 18km run.
He couldn’t improve his score ahead of the Grand Final in Qatar as only the best four scores count but he prevented anyone else from taking the maximum 35 points haul.
Noodt held firm to take second, with Youri Keulen (NED) in third.
Swim – Dickinson shows up well again
It was 3.45pm local time when the men ran into the sea and conditions – as they had been for most of the day – were still pretty much ideal.
Sam Dickinson (GBR) led it out but only 10 seconds covered the first 15 after the first of three laps, very different to the women’s race earlier when it was strung out from early on.
Menno Koolhaas (NED) was out of the water first after lap two and now 20 seconds covered top 15.
Koolhaas looked super smooth on the final lap, with Dickinson closest to him and the Brit eased past heading towards the shore.
He was first out of the water in 21:49, Koolhaas two seconds behind, with German duo Noodt at +5s and Wilhelm Hirsch +6s.
Wilde was seventh at +17s, and there were 33 seconds between the top 15 which meant it was likely to be a lively start to the bike.
Bike – Wilde and Noodt move clear
It was Dickinson who went for a flyer on the bike, quickly putting 10 seconds into Noodt, with Wilde close behind too.
And that was how it stayed on the first of six laps but then on lap two the almost-inevitable happened as Wilde moved to the front.
Noodt was the only one able to stick with him, just a few seconds behind, with Dickinson coming next.
Keulen was fourth at +17 seconds and then Koolhaas at +37 but it was over a minute and more back to the rest.
From that point onwards Wilde and Noodt began to work well together and pulled clear of the other three and it would stay that was all the way to transition.
Run – Cruise control for Hayden
Noodt was fractionally ahead at T2 but Wilde was so rapid that he got out in front.
In fact he was so slick that soon after he had the presence of mind to kick a dropped gel so he didn’t have to break stride to pick it up!
Noodt didn’t capitulate, far from it, but Wilde always looked comfortable and he no doubt had more than half an eye on his recovery ahead of his latest double header at WTCS Grand Final Wollongong on Sunday.
In the closing kilometre he was able to joke with the live broadcast commentary team and high five his way all the way to the line.
He broke the tape in 3:06:07, 36 seconds ahead of Noodt, with a further 30 seconds back to Keulen.
Wollongong T100 results – Pro men
Saturday October 18, 2025 – 2km/80km/18km
| Position | Athlete | Gap to Wilde | Swim time | Bike time | Run time | Total time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hayden Wilde (NZL) | – | 22:06 | 01:43:45 | 00:58:27 | 03:06:07 |
| 2 | Mika Noodt (GER) | +00:36 | 21:53 | 01:43:49 | 00:59:02 | 03:06:42 |
| 3 | Youri Keulen (NED) | +01:06 | 22:06 | 01:45:48 | 00:57:23 | 03:07:12 |
| 4 | Menno Koolhaas (NED) | +03:19 | 21:51 | 01:47:18 | 00:58:13 | 03:09:25 |
| 5 | Henry Raeppo (EST) | +04:58 | 22:04 | 01:47:55 | 00:59:04 | 03:11:04 |
| 6 | Sam Dickinson (GBR) | +06:10 | 21:49 | 01:46:18 | 01:02:26 | 03:12:16 |
| 7 | Jake Birtwhistle (AUS) | +06:45 | 22:18 | 01:50:30 | 00:58:10 | 03:12:51 |
| 8 | Gregory Barnaby (ITA) | +07:18 | 22:07 | 01:49:42 | 00:59:34 | 03:13:24 |
| 9 | Jason West (USA) | +07:30 | 22:03 | 01:52:31 | 00:57:06 | 03:13:36 |
| 10 | Jarrod Osborne (AUS) | +07:35 | 23:55 | 01:49:37 | 00:58:03 | 03:13:41 |
Latest overall standings (best four races plus Grand Final in Qatar count):
| Position | Athlete | Counting races | Series score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hayden Wilde | 4 | 140 |
| 2 | Jelle Geens | 4 | 122 |
| 3 | Mika Noodt | 4 | 110 |
| 4 | Rico Bogen | 4 | 93 |
| 5 | Mathis Margirier | 4 | 82 |
| 6 | Youri Keulen | 4 | 81 |
| 7 | Marten Van Riel | 3 | 73 |
| 8 | Menno Koolhaas | 4 | 71 |
| 9 | Sam Dickinson | 3 | 64 |
| 10 | Gregory Barnaby | 4 | 62 |
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