Britain’s Alex Yee became world champion for the first time as he added that title to his Olympic crown after finishing third behind great rival Hayden Wilde (NZL) in the WTCS Grand Final in Torremolinos.
Yee knew that a top-six finish would be enough to make it a golden double but there were anxious moments when title rivals Wilde and Léo Bergere (FRA) broke away on the bike in a five-man front group. They had a substantial lead starting the run but Yee didn’t panic and gradually ate into the deficit.
Showing the battling qualities in evidence in Paris, Yee moved up into third just before the end of the third of four 2.5km laps to all but make the title safe barring a late mishap.
All the while though Wilde was clear up front and notched a brilliant victory to go with his Olympic silver medal. And Bergere was second as Yee rounded out a podium that featured the three Paris medallists. In terms of the overall WTCS standings it was Yee first, Bergere second and Wilde third.
Swim – Calm before the storm
After the drama at the start in the women’s race the day before, the men’s race was a little calmer during the swim.
The conditions definitely were – with virtually no choppiness – and none of the athletes went off course as Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand had done before her remarkable last-to-first comeback.
Matt Hauser (AUS) led it out after the first of two 750-metre laps but it was all closely packed in behind.
Of the title contenders at that point Bergere was best placed in 13th, with Wilde 27th and Yee 32nd, albeit only 17 seconds behind.
Exiting the water for a second and final time it was Miguel Tiago Silva (ESP) in front followed by Hauser just a second back.
French trio Bergere, Luis and Dorian Coninx – all of them world champions in recent years – were all in the top 16, with Wilde 26th at 13 seconds and Yee 35th at 21 seconds back.
Yee had plenty of support too though, with fellow Brits Max Stapley and Harry Leleu in the top 10, and Connor Bentley, Jack Willis and Hugo Milner all around the Olympic champion.
But there was no Sam Dickinson – who had helped Yee so much in Paris – as he didn’t start the race.
The long run from the beach to T1 helped Yee and he was virtually alongside Wilde heading out of T1.
Bike – Bergere and Wilde make the break
It didn’t take long for the race to spring to life on the bike as a dangerous-looking five-man front group were able to break away from the rest following some confusion after an unfortunate early crash involving Hauser.
It was close to worst-case scenario for Yee – his two closest title rivals, Bergere and Wilde, were both in there and each had support. Vincent Luis, in his last short course race, was alongside Bergere for France while Wilde was supported by fellow Kiwi Tayler Reid. The quintet was completed by Switzerland’s Simon Westermann.
Not surprisingly they were working superbly together – the gap was 14 seconds after the first of eight laps, had more than doubled to 29 seconds after lap two and nudged up to 37 seconds after lap three.
And Yee was having to do the bulk of the work in the chase group despite his pleas for help, all in stark contrast to the cohesion in the front five.
These were dangerous moments and it went from bad to worse – the gap had ballooned to 53 seconds at halfway and then another crash in the middle of the chase group further impacted their hopes, reflected in it going over the minute-mark to +1:06 after lap five.
The pattern continued and it was becoming more and more obvious that the fact Yee needed to finish in the top six to be world champion was potentially going down to the wire.
By the end of the bike leg the deficit was 1:38 and despite Yee’s run prowess there was no way barring mishaps he was going to make that up over 10km on Bergere and Wilde. Luis and Reid – having done the bulk of the work – and Westermann were potentially in range but there were other fast runners in the big chase pack too, setting up a thrilling finale.
Run – Yee reels in world title
So the equation was simple for Yee – he had to finish in the top six if he wanted to make sure of the title and he started the run 1:40 behind the five leaders after a smooth T2.
Up front though things were starting to splinter. It was no surprise to see Reid drop back early on but he was joined by both Luis and Westermann as Bergere and Wilde forged clear.
If Bergere were to go on to win, Yee had to be top six. If Wilde took the tape, then top seven would be enough for the Brit.
And things began to swing back Yee’s way. At the end of the first of four 2.5km run laps, Wilde led the way, eight seconds in front of Bergere, with 37 seconds back to Westermann, Luis and Reid. And then came Yee in sixth at +1:39, 12 seconds ahead of the rest.
And on lap two, Yee was boosted by getting the trio ahead of him in his sights – and by plenty of Brits among the huge crowds cheering his progress.
At the halfway point Wilde looked in control but Bergere was starting to tire and was now 28 seconds back in second. The third / fourth / fifth group were at +1:12, with Yee now within 30 seconds of them.
The pass on that trio came just before the end of the third lap and the only remaining question was whether Yee could also collar Bergere in the closing stages for second.
That didn’t quite happen but the obvious priority for Yee was the world title and he matched Beaugrand by adding that to his Olympic gold medal.

There were no fewer than four Frenchmen in the top 10, with Luis eventually finishing eighth in his last short-course race.
WTCS Finals Torremolinos results:
Sunday October 20, 2024
Elite Men – Olympic Distance
- 1. Hayden Wilde (NZL) – 1:42:22
- 2. Léo Bergere (FRA) – 1:43:24
- 3. Alex Yee (GBR) – 1:43:50
- 4. Dorian Coninx (FRA) – 1:44:03
- 5. Pierre Le Corre (FRA) – 1:44:04
- 6. Csongor Lehmann (HUN) – 1:44:08
- 7. Tayler Reid (NZL) – 1:44:12
- 8. Vincent Luis (FRA) – 1:44:22
- 9. Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN) – 1:44:26
- 10. Hugo Milner (GBR) – 1:44:31
Click here for full finishing order and swim / bike / run splits
WTCS Final Standings
- 1. Alex Yee (GBR) – 4,070pts
- 2. Léo Bergere (FRA) – 3,728pts
- 3. Hayden Wilde (NZL) – 3,726pts