French superstar Cassandre Beaugrand completed her hat-trick of WTCS Alghero wins with a running masterclass as she returned to triathlon in true style to secure an impressive win and set her Olympic qualification process rolling.
Having missed out in Samarkand due to illness, and having spent much of her time enjoying her running exploits, all eyes were on the Olympic gold medallist of Paris 2024 to see what kind of form she could bring to swim-bike-run.
The answer was somewhat emphatic as she put a poor swim and a terrible transition off the bike behind her to steam through the pack and then kick away from Britain’s Beth Potter and Germany’s Lisa Tertsch to take the win.
A star-studded field, which also included the likes of Taylor Knibb (USA), Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR), and Jeanne Lehair (LUX), simply had no answer to her brilliance as she took the line for the third successive race in Alghero.
Here’s how the race played out…
Swim – Bunched pack sets up a real thriller
Conditions meant there was no beach start, as the sand was considered too loose for a safe sprint start into the water. Instead, the athletes waded out to knee-high water before diving into the action.
Italian Bianca Seregni set the early pace as a bunched main pack made it out to the first 325m buoy, with British duo Sophie Evans and Tilly Anema tucked in with reigning WTCS champion Tertsch.
With no Aussie exit due to the sand issues, the athletes once again waded through a shallow section of water to the start of lap two, and the real racing seemed to get underway as the first real gap started to form with 14 swimmers making their break.
As they headed into T1, it was the British pair of Anema and Evans who led the way out of the water, but there was very little between the front pack of athletes, as Leonie Periault (FRA) came in eleventh, only 15 seconds adrift.
Anema and Evans were followed by Tertsch, Márta Kropkó (HUN), Taylor Spivey (USA), Knibb, Jolien Vermeylen (BEL), Olivia Mathias (GBR), Kirsten Kasper (USA) and Periault.
Potter was in 14th, Beaugrand was back in 20th, and Taylor-Brown was in 25th; however, they would all soon be in the thick of the action at the front of the race as the vast group of athletes exited T1.
Bike – Knibb once again shows bike class
KropkĂł was quickly out of T1 and was part of a four-woman group that also included Anema, Evans and Tertsch, but their lead was not about to last very long.
Knibb, who has already displayed her power on the bike in 70.3, T100 and full-distance formats this season, was lurking among the chasers, and it didn’t take her long to drive that group up to the front and form what turned out to be a large lead pack of 22 riders.
Despite coming out of the water almost 20 seconds behind the leaders, Beaugrand found herself right in the mix as pretty much all the big names made their move to ensure they were not left behind.
Taylor-Brown did attempt a breakaway at the end of lap five to test the resolve of those around her, but she was very quickly reeled back in, and by the time they entered T2, it was Knibb who was once again calling the shots as the lead wheel.
Having been whittled down to 18 riders, the leaders entered T2 with just five seconds between them and set the scene for a thrilling 10km run.
Run – Beaugrand proves too strong
A lightning transition from Mexico’s Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal briefly saw her lead the way out onto the run leg, but that did not last long as she was quickly swallowed up by the pace of Potter, Periault, Taylor-Brown, Tertsch and Lehair.
Beaugrand clearly had some issues in the transition, and despite being well placed on the bike, exited 13 seconds back from the leaders, with her switch from bike to run taking 34 seconds, which was by far the worst in the field.
However, the woman who recently set a new 5km French running record was certainly not out of the race here in Sardinia, and once into her stride, she eased her way through to the front, making up a staggering 11 places in just her first kilometre.
By lap two of nine, five women were striding clear, with Lehair, Beaugrand, Potter, Tertsch and Taylor-Brown clearly making their move and leaving the rest, including the clearly struggling Knibb, behind.
Periault had initially been a part of the breakaway but was dropped by the sheer pace of the leaders, but she would not be the only one to find the speed too hot to handle. Five was then reduced to four as Taylor-Brown – possibly feeling the effects of last week’s T100 win in scorching Spain – was left behind.
Lehair, Beaugrand, Potter and Tertsch were now battling it out for the three podium spots and the first tranche of big Olympic qualifying points next to their names.
The unrelenting pace, however, proved too much for Lehair, as she was unable to maintain her challenge against the three most recent WTCS world champions, who were now in a straight shootout for the win.
Tertsch was first to blink as she was caught out by a blistering move from Beaugrand, and while Potter was able to cling on for a short while, she too had no answer to the French woman’s late kick and had to settle for a second silver on the bounce.
WTCS Alghero women’s results
Saturday 30 May 2026, 1500m / 40km / 10km
| Position | Athlete | Nationality | Swim | Bike | Run | Total time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cassandre Beaugrand | FRA | 00:19:45 | 00:59:16 | 00:33:26 | 01:53:49 |
| 2 | Beth Potter | GBR | 00:19:40 | 00:59:24 | 00:33:42 | 01:53:53 |
| 3 | Lisa Tertsch | GER | 00:19:15 | 00:59:50 | 00:33:46 | 01:53:58 |
| 4 | Jeanne Lehair | LUX | 00:19:32 | 00:59:35 | 00:33:58 | 01:54:09 |
| 5 | Leonie Periault | FRA | 00:19:28 | 00:59:36 | 00:34:02 | 01:54:16 |
| 6 | Georgia Taylor-Brown | GBR | 00:19:49 | 00:59:11 | 00:34:29 | 01:54:40 |
| 7 | Jolien Vermeylen | BEL | 00:19:22 | 00:59:42 | 00:34:36 | 01:54:51 |
| 8 | Taylor Spivey | USA | 00:19:21 | 00:59:40 | 00:35:07 | 01:55:20 |
| 9 | Tanja Neubert | GER | 00:19:43 | 00:59:19 | 00:35:17 | 01:55:33 |
| 10 | Márta Kropkó | HUN | 00:19:15 | 00:59:48 | 00:35:30 | 01:55:45 |
| 11 | Taylor Knibb | USA | 00:19:22 | 00:59:35 | 00:35:40 | 01:55:55 |
| 12 | Jessica Fullagar | GBR | 00:19:55 | 00:59:03 | 00:36:04 | 01:56:14 |
| 13 | Sophie Evans | GBR | 00:19:13 | 00:59:50 | 00:36:12 | 01:56:26 |
| 14 | Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal | MEX | 00:19:42 | 00:59:20 | 00:36:22 | 01:56:31 |
| 15 | Therese Feuersinger | AUT | 00:19:52 | 00:59:07 | 00:36:32 | 01:56:44 |
