Olympic champion Alex Yee (GBR) and silver medallist Hayden Wilde (NZL), ‘fresh’ from his T100 win 24 hours earlier, may have returned for WTCS French Riviera but it made no difference to Matt Hauser as he notched his third WTCS victory of the season to cement his place at the top of the standings.
The Australian now has a perfect 3,000 points in the World Series and a glorious chance of a first world title on home roads in Woolongong in October.
And he produced a flawless performance to underline that he will be a fully deserving champion – he drove the swim, instigated the break on the bike and then finished it off in familiar style as he saw off Vasco Vilaca (POR) yet again on the run by five seconds.
Miguel Hidalgo (BRA) was third, 28 seconds back, while Yee – in his first WTCS race of the season – was ninth and Wilde 11th.
Swim – Straight from the gun
With 56 men lining up for the beach start it was always going to be a frantic swim.
Hauser seemed determined to give himself the chance of a breakaway and he tried to drive it from the front.
But it stayed pretty tight and it was one line of athletes on the long run to T1.
Yee was in the middle of it but Wilde had work to do in what was a very different swim environment to the 20-man middle distance field he beat in such good style at T100 French Riviera 24 hours before.
Bike – Decisive split
Sure enough we had a clear split on the bike – and it went exactly the way Hauser must have wanted as he was part of the 10-man group off the front.
They worked superbly together right from the off and midway through lap two of five they were 22 seconds ahead of the next group which featured Yee. Meanwhile Wilde was a long way further back at +1:01.
The pattern continued, with the front group continuing to share the workload and they were rewarded as the advantage continued to go out – it was 29 seconds after lap three, 31 after lap four and then right up to 50 seconds going into T2 with a late crash in the chase pack further harming their chances.
And a special mention for Wilde who did brilliantly in the final lap to virtually ride solo up to the chase group, just 11 seconds behind them.
The podium was surely going to come from this first 10 – Hauser looked the big favourite but also with him were Vilaca, Hidalgo, Charles Paquet (CAN), Márk Dévay (HUN), Gjalt Panjer (NED), Henry Graf (GER), Dorian Coninx (FRA), Tom Richard (FRA) and Alberto Gonzalez Garcia (ESP).
Run – Action replay
It was no surprise at all to see the common sight this season of Hauser and Vilaca powering clear on the run.
The problem for Vilaca is that the other common denominator has been Hauser burning him off in the closing stages.
The Portuguese star knew he had to try something different and he tried to kick clear on the second of three 1.66km laps.
However Hauser hadn’t travelled halfway round the world to do anything other than win and he stuck on his shoulder going into the last lap. Hidalgo at this point was eight seconds back in third.
Almost like clockwork Hauser made the move with 1km to go and it again proved decisive – credit to Vilaca as well though who made his rival work all the way to the line.
WTCS French Riviera 2025 results
Sunday 31 August 2025 – 750m / 20km / 5km
Elite Men
| Position | Name | Nationality | Overall time | Swim time | Bike time | Run time |
| 1 | Matthew Hauser | AUS | 00:50:53 | 00:09:05 | 00:26:42 | 00:13:36 |
| 2 | Vasco Vilaca | POR | 00:50:57 | 00:09:16 | 00:26:36 | 00:13:40 |
| 3 | Miguel Hidalgo | BRA | 00:51:20 | 00:09:08 | 00:26:36 | 00:14:04 |
| 4 | Dorian Coninx | FRA | 00:51:27 | 00:09:12 | 00:26:36 | 00:14:13 |
| 5 | Tom Richard | FRA | 00:51:32 | 00:09:13 | 00:26:35 | 00:14:16 |
| 6 | Alberto Gonzalez Garcia | ESP | 00:51:37 | 00:09:11 | 00:26:38 | 00:14:18 |
| 7 | Charles Paquet | CAN | 00:51:37 | 00:09:11 | 00:26:38 | 00:14:20 |
| 8 | Henry Graf | GER | 00:51:43 | 00:09:20 | 00:26:29 | 00:14:24 |
| 9 | Alex Yee | GBR | 00:51:49 | 00:09:25 | 00:27:16 | 00:13:39 |
| 10 | David Cantero Del Campo | ESP | 00:52:06 | 00:09:30 | 00:27:05 | 00:14:00 |
WTCS standings after French Riviera (which is race 5)
| Position | Name | Nationality | Counting Races* | Points |
| 1 | Matthew Hauser | AUS | 3 | 3000.00 |
| 2 | Vasco Vilaca | POR | 3 | 2775.00 |
| 3 | Miguel Hidalgo | BRA | 3 | 2711.26 |
| 4 | Dorian Coninx | FRA | 3 | 1982.12 |
| 5 | Henry Graf | GER | 3 | 1905.10 |
| 6 | Charles Paquet | CAN | 3 | 1854.25 |
| 7 | David Cantero Del Campo | ESP | 3 | 1752.37 |
| 8 | Csongor Lehmann | HUN | 3 | 1708.91 |
| 9 | Ricardo Batista | POR | 3 | 1670.25 |
| 10 | Léo Bergere | FRA | 2 | 1647.08 |
