Just as it had in the earlier women’s event, a breakaway on the bike shaped the race as Brazil’s Miguel Hidalgo claimed his – and his country’s – first WTCS victory at the maiden edition of WTCS Alghero in Sardinia.
Hidalgo, third last time at WTCS Yokohama, was in a group of nine who had an advantage of nearly two minutes after the bike and he then flew out of T2 and quickly opened up a clear lead on the run.
The 25-year-old looked super-smooth throughout and was never threatened, crossing the line 28 seconds to the good in front of Matt Hauser (AUS), the winner in Yokohama. He had overhauled Léo Bergere (FRA), who was the catalyst for the breakaway on the bike, in the final stages of the run.
Swim – Hauser shows the way
The French camp have been hit harder than most by a sickness bug and 2023 World Champion Dorian Coninx wasn’t able to start.
And the swim began in the sea rather than on the beach owing to some early-morning maintenance work which had left a patch of mud on the shore.
The Aussie exit at the end of the first of two loops saw Hauser out of the water first but it was close in behind and that pattern was maintained on the second lap.
Hauser clocked 17:12 as he headed to T1 in front but just 21 seconds covered the top 30 and all the favourites were in there.
Bike – Bergere puts hammer down
There was drama early on in the bike though – Tayler Reid (NZL) and Adrien Briffod (SUI) hit the deck while Britain’s Jack Willis’ frustration was obvious as a mechanical issue ended his race.
But around the same time came arguably the moment that decided who would be in contention to win the race as Bergere got to the front of the lead group and really started driving the pace.
It was brutal and suddenly at the end of the second of nine laps we had a group of 11, with a lead of 33 seconds.
The big loser at that point in terms of the favourites was Vasco Vilaca (POR) who had chased Hauser home in Yokohama but found himself distanced here.
But the pace was proving attritional too – Filip Michalek (CZE) and Jonas Schomburg (GER) weren’t able to stick with it and 11 became nine up front.
Just as we’d seen in the women’s race the up-and-down and relatively technical bike course played into the breakaway group’s hands and the gap started to balloon.
It went over the minute mark after four laps and was nearly two minutes when the bell went for the start of the ninth lap.
By the time they were back at T2 it had stayed steady and surely the medals would be coming from those nine.
Run – Hidalgo a class apart
There was a statement start to the run from Hidalgo who powered away from his breakaway companions on the first of four 2.5km laps.
It was hugely impressive, so much so that by the end of that lap he had a 20-seconds advantage over a chasing trio of Hauser, Bergere and Luke Willian (AUS), who in turn were 14 seconds and more in front of the rest.
On the second lap, Hidalgo continued to look strong but in behind Willian couldn’t stick with Hauser and Bergere.
That was how it stayed on the third lap – Hidalgo now taking his lead up past the 30 seconds mark while Hauser and Bergere battled for the minor medals.
Silver looked booked for Bergere but on the last lap it was Hauser who found extra reserves to run away from him to maintain his lead in the overall WTCS standings after a third successive top-two spot.
Results
WTCS Alghero – Saturday May 31 2025
1500m / 40km / 10km
Elite Men
- 1. Miguel Hidalgo (BRA) – 1:44:05 [17:19 / 55:31 / 30:09]
- 2. Matt Hauser (AUS) – 1:44:33 [17:12 / 55:39 / 30:36]
- 3. Léo Bergere (FRA) – 1:45:09 [17:24 / 55:30 / 31:12]
- 4. Luke Willian (AUS) – 1:45:29 [17:24 / 55:31 / 31:32]
- 5. Charles Paquet (CAN) – 1:45:36 [17:24 / 55:29 / 31:35]
WTCS 2025 rankings after Alghero (race three)
- 1. Matt Hauser (AUS) – 2618.75pts
- 2. Miguel Hidalgo (BRA) – 2227.45pts
- 3. Vasco Vilaca (POR) – 1633.16pts
- 4. Léo Bergere (FRA) – 1647.08pts
- 5. Ricardo Batista (POR) – 1558.48pts
