WTCS Hamburg 2025 women’s results: Periault outruns Olympic champ Beaugrand for gold

France’s Leonie Periault produced a blistering run to see off compatriot and Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand and the strongest women’s field of the year so far at WTCS Hamburg.

It was Periault’s second WTCS victory following Yokohama last year and she was a class apart on the run after no fewer than 45 athletes had come into T2 together.

Periault made her move midway through the first of two run laps as she swooped past Beaugrand and no one was able to match her as she crossed the line in 56:25, four seconds ahead of Beaugrand who had to work hard to hold off Beth Potter (GBR) in the battle for second.

The race also saw Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown, the most decorated Olympic female triathlete, make her triathlon comeback and she was a respectable 14th.

Swim – Seregni splits the field

Conditions were much improved compared to the men’s race a couple of hours earlier, with the rain having stopped and the course drying up quickly.

But first the swim and it was Bianca Seregni (ITA) who really started to string it out from the front.

Only Lisa Tertsch (GER) was able to stay with her by the time we got to the tunnel, with Beaugrand leading the chase pack in third.

And that was how it stayed, Seregni out first in 9:14, with Tertsch just a second back and Beaugrand in third at +14.

Jeanne Lehair (LUX) was fourth at +15, Potter seventh at +21, Periault 10th, American duo Gwen Jorgensen and Taylor Spivey 24th and 25th, while British pair Kate Waugh and Taylor-Brown were at +40s.

Bike – All back together

Tertsch was off as soon as they departed T1 and on the first of the six bike laps she quickly dropped Seregni and had around 10 seconds to the rest.

But it was all coming together in behind and those gaps from the swim were quickly swallowed up.

That was bad news for Tertsch and before that first lap was even over we had one huge line of riders – no less than 48, with Jorgensen the last of them at that point but just 30 seconds adrift.

The status quo remained for the next couple of laps but three of the 48 did drop off the back, including Jorgensen as the recent frustration continued for her following a flat tyre last time out at WTCS Alghero and a bike crash since then.

It was still 45 riders strong after lap four, with Waugh – back to WTCS after starring at T100 for much of this season – leading the way up front.

With such a huge group no one was tempted to try and break clear and it all meant that the 45 came into T2 together, with just 16 seconds between them, and we were set for a battle royale on the run.

Run – Periault runs away from the field

It was no surprise at all to see a statement of intent in the first few hundred metres as Beaugrand moved to the head of affairs.

The pace she was setting meant the huge group was suddenly being splintered, with Tertsch and Emma Lombardi (FRA) right on her shoulder and then a line in behind.

But it didn’t take long for Periault, who has been running so well this year with a 10k PB on the road as well as cross country heroics, to throw down a challenge and glide past Beaugrand.

At the end of the first of two laps it was very much game on – Periault had now carved open a six-second gap on Beaugrand.

She in turn was just a second ahead of Jolien Vermeylen (BEL) and Potter, with Lombardi in fifth.

And on the second lap Periault stayed strong at the front, never really giving the others a look in despite the gaps remaining relatively narrow.

When the line came she had four seconds to spare, with Beaugrand responding well to a late Potter charge as that duo took second and third respectively.

WTCS Hamburg 2025 results

Saturday 12 July 2025 – 750m / 20km / 5km

Elite Women

WTCS Standings after Hamburg (which is race 4)