The World Cup event in Chengdu in Southwest China attracted a stellar field and a finish to match in the women’s race as Germany’s Laura Lindemann just got the better of a three-way sprint against Valentina Riasova (AIN) and Kate Waugh (GBR).

The men’s race was almost as close as Australia’s Luke Willian held off a late charge from Nils Serre Gehri (FRA) by a single second, with the same margin back to Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN) in third.

Elite women – Frantic finale

It was Lindemann who anchored Germany to Mixed Relay gold at the 2024 Olympics in Paris in one of triathlon’s most famous finishes – and she served up something special again here.

In what was a sprint distance event, the swim had been bossed by Fanni Szalai (HUN) and Mathilde Gautier (FRA), meaning they had a lead of 20 seconds going into T1.

However with a huge pack behind early on the bike it was soon all together and that was how it stayed until T2 as around 50 athletes all came in within a few seconds of each other.

But in the first half of the 5km run it was all about Riasova as she set a pace on the front which gradually whittled down the contenders.

Approaching the final kilometre it looked like she was going to repeat last year’s victory in Chengdu – but Lindemann and Waugh had other ideas.

They gradually cut the gap and by the time they reached the blue carpet they were only a few metres behind – but there was still work to be done and all three were in a line approaching the tape, see photo below, with officials having to take their time to determine the photo finish.

The verdict was that Lindemann was the victor, with Riasova given the same time in second and T100 world champion Waugh, in what was her first race of the season, just a second back in third.

You can watch the thrilling finale here – and full results are at the foot of this article.

Elite men – Willian repels Serre

The men’s race had earlier followed a very similar pattern.

Igor Dupuis (FRA) led out of the water but the bike became a waiting game for the run as a huge pack formed and stayed together into T2.

Luke Schofield (AUS) was the man to drive things in the early stages of the run but at the business end of the race it was his compatriot Willian who took over on the front and started to shed his rivals.

Serre, the world junior champion in 2024, and Mislawchuk stayed within range though and the Frenchman was almost on terms before Willian found one extra kick to settle the issue.

World Cup Chengdu results

Saturday 9 May 2026, 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run

ELITE WOMEN

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Swim	Bike	Run	Overall time
1	Laura Lindemann	GER	9:59	27:47	16:24	55:27
2	Valentina Riasova	AIN	10:07	27:43	16:24	55:27
3	Kate Waugh	GBR	9:59	27:47	16:28	55:28
4	Sara Guerrero Manso	ESP	10:00	27:48	16:30	55:29
5	Mariana Vargem	POR	10:32	27:18	16:21	55:30
6	Sian Rainsley	GBR	10:01	27:45	16:35	55:35
7	Julia Bröcker	GER	10:08	27:39	16:43	55:40
8	Aspen Anderson	AUS	10:04	27:41	16:38	55:40
9	Sophie Malowiecki	AUS	10:13	27:36	16:39	55:41
10	Ilona Hadhoum	FRA	9:58	27:49	16:45	55:43

ELITE MEN

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Swim	Bike	Run	Overall time
1	Luke Willian	AUS	9:01	26:04	14:03	50:14
2	Nils Serre Gehri	FRA	9:08	25:52	14:08	50:14
3	Tyler Mislawchuk	CAN	8:59	26:05	14:04	50:16
4	Nathan Grayel	FRA	9:17	25:47	14:11	50:19
5	Callum McClusky	AUS	9:10	25:57	14:07	50:19
6	Antonio Serrat Seoane	ESP	9:04	25:59	14:13	50:21
7	Brayden Mercer	AUS	8:52	26:10	14:07	50:21
8	Liam Donnelly	CAN	9:28	25:41	14:10	50:26
9	Arnaud Mengal	BEL	9:10	25:55	14:13	50:30
10	Roman Mineev	AIN	9:07	25:56	14:17	50:34