Lanzarote is one of the best-known triathlon training centres and it plays host to the opening World Cup race of 2026 this Saturday.

World Cups are the tier below the World Triathlon Championship Series but this weekend’s fields are stacked with star names.

And the fact that the opening WTCS race of the year in Abu Dhabi has been postponed because of the current situation in the Middle East likely means there will be added interest in how the two races play out.

Here’s all you need to know…

Start time and how to watch live

The races will take place on Saturday March 14 and are over the sprint distance (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run).

The professional women will start first, with the gun going off at 16:00 local time. This corresponds to 16:00 in the UK, 17:00 in Central Europe, 12:00 on the East Coast of the US and 09:00 on the West.

The men’s race takes place two hours later.

And the good news is that both are available to watch for free on TriathlonLive.tv – streamed outside of the paywall and available to anyone registered with a free account. The commentary will come from Trevor Harris and Helen Jenkins.

World Triathlon Cup Lanzarote course

It’s a one lap sea swim from the Playa de las Cucharas, located in Costa Teguise, one of the most iconic beaches in Lanzarote.

The swim goes in an anti-clockwise direction and after getting out of the water it’s a 210-metre run to T1. After that it’s three bike laps of 6.9km and there’s quite a significant kick in the middle as the athletes go from sea level to 81m.

The two 2.5km run loops are flatter, just rising gently to 23m.

Pro Women

Wearing bib #1 is Jeanne Lehair (LUX) who ran away with the Supertri title last season as well as WTCS Yokohama and is currently ranked number three in the world.

She dropped down to World Cup level at the backend of last season, coming second at San Pedro de la Paz and winning at Vina del Mar.

On the British front, Sophie Evans – formerly Coldwell – will make her triathlon return following the birth of her first child.

She won her first World Triathlon Championship Series race in Yokohama in 2023 – the highest level of the sport – when she beat the likes of Taylor Knibb and current PTO world number one Kate Waugh and her most recent WTCS race saw her come seventh at Cagliari in May 2024.

Joining Evans racing for GB is her great friend Georgia Taylor-Brown, the most decorated female Olympic triathlete of all time.

GTB had what she termed “a gap year” in 2025 but managed to race 22 times in a variety of formats and disciplines and ended the campaign superbly with the fastest-ever IRONMAN 70.3 time when winning in Bahrain before coming runner-up in the T100 Grand Final in Qatar.

She and Lehair will be the two big favourites in Lanzarote but they are up against Laura Lindemann, who anchored Germany to that thrilling gold medal in the Mixed Team Relay at the Paris Olympics and should come back refreshed after taking something of a break from the spotlight last year.

Not surprisingly hosts Spain have strength in numbers and plenty of quality, as do France.

And another fascinating name on the start list is Hungarian phenom Fanni Szalai, runner-up in the World Junior Championship last year, who makes her World Cup debut.

Pro Men

The men’s field looks similarly strong and it’s headed by Spain’s David Cantero, the 2024 U23 World Champion and a brilliant second to Matt Hauser in the WTCS Grand Final in Wollongong at the end of last year.

Up against him and bib number two is 2023 World Champion Dorian Coninx of France. A broken elbow scuppered his chances of an Olympic place on home soil in Paris and he’ll be looking to get back on track here after a slightly frustrating 2025.

Another man with undoubted quality but looking to bounce back after an injury-hit year is Tim Hellwig. He’s a multiple winner at this level and was part of Germany’s winning Mixed Relay team in Paris.

Max Stapley and Harry Leleu fly the flag for Britain while Ben Dijkstra has his second race in a neutral trisuit as he moves towards representing the Netherlands.

Kenji Nener (JPN), Seth Rider (USA) and Panagiotis Bitados (GRE) are other well-known names on the start list.