Matt Hauser and Hayden Wilde renew their rivalry in Abu Dhabi on Friday, while Lisa Tertsch defends her title against a field featuring the two women who fought out a sprint finish in Hong Kong last weekend.
The rearranged World Triathlon Championship Series event takes place on Hudayriyat Island on 13–14 November, with the individual sprint races on Friday and the mixed relay on Saturday. It was originally scheduled for March and now runs alongside the opening weekend of the World Triathlon Multisport Championships.
WTCS Abu Dhabi start times and how to watch live
| Race | Date | Abu Dhabi (GST) | UK (GMT) | US Eastern | US Pacific |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elite women | Friday 13 November | 2:00pm | 10:00am | 5:00am | 2:00am |
| Elite men | Friday 13 November | 4:00pm | 12:00pm | 7:00am | 4:00am |
| Mixed relay | Saturday 14 November | 4:15pm | 12:15pm | 7:15am | 4:15am |
TriathlonLive.io has live coverage of all three races (behind a paywall), with Friday’s individual streams scheduled to begin 15 minutes before each start. You can also follow the races via World Triathlon’s live timing.
The course – sprint racing on Hudayriyat Island
Friday’s individual races begin at Bab Al Nojoum Beach and follow the sprint format, with a 750m swim, a bike leg of around 20km and a 5km run. Saturday’s four-leg mixed relay starts at the same beach and the distances are 300m, 7km, 1.4km (leg four is a 1.6km run).
Elite men – Hauser and Wilde meet again
Australia’s Matt Hauser wears No. 1, with Brazil’s Miguel Hidalgo and Australia’s Luke Willian next on the list. Hauser won the Grand Final in Pontevedra and more recently defended his Noosa title ahead of Willian and American John Reed, who also starts in Abu Dhabi.
Wilde wears No. 17. The New Zealander beat Hauser by two seconds in Abu Dhabi last year, and Friday is planned to be the first half of another double.
He is aiming to race the Dubai T100 the following morning, with just over 18 hours between the two starts and he got the go-ahead from World Triathlon’s Technical Committee on Monday evening.
Spain’s David Cantero Del Campo wears No. 4 after winning the Iquique World Cup on Sunday. Australia’s Callum McClusky took silver in Hong Kong, where Switzerland’s Max Studer finished fourth before anchoring his country to relay gold. Max Stapley, Harry Leleu and Hugo Milner make up the British men’s line-up.
Elite women – Tertsch defends against Hong Kong’s top two
Lisa Tertsch heads the list a year after leading a German podium sweep in Abu Dhabi. Just two seconds covered Tertsch, Nina Eim and Laura Lindemann that day, and all three are entered again.
Luxembourg’s Jeanne Lehair and Russia’s Diana Isakova wear Nos. 2 and 3 after finishing on the same time in Hong Kong last Saturday. Isakova got the verdict there, backing up her World Cup win in Rome. Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen wears No. 4, while Rio 2016 Olympic champion Gwen Jorgensen adds further interest for the United States.
Beth Cook comes in off fifth in Hong Kong and joins Sophie Evans and Eve Whitaker in the British line-up.
Mixed relay – Germany defend as Switzerland arrive in form
Seventeen nations are entered for Saturday’s relay. Germany won here last year ahead of the United States and Italy, who are also entered.
Switzerland arrive fresh from their comeback win in Hong Kong, where Studer erased a 35-second deficit on the final leg and still had time to serve a penalty.
What’s at stake after the Grand Final?
Vasco Vilaça and Cassandre Beaugrand secured the 2026 world titles at September’s Grand Final in Pontevedra. Abu Dhabi is a standalone stop in championship terms, and World Triathlon has confirmed to TRI247 that it won’t count towards the 2027 T50 World Tour.
However there are still LA28 Olympic qualification points and World Triathlon Ranking points on offer, along with the usual prize money for WTCS and Mixed Relay Series events.
