France’s Cassandre Beaugrand made it three wins out of three this season as the World Triathlon Championship Series returned to London for the first time in 11 years.
The Olympic champion has been virtually unbeatable on British soil in recent years and this was another masterclass as the sprint distance race all came down to the 5km run.
Beaugrand appeared relaxed throughout as she moved to the head of affairs early on the run, taking over from pacesetting Taylor Knibb (USA), before burning off reigning world champion Lisa Tertsch (GER) and rising star Tilda Månsson (SWE), who were second and third respectively.
Beth Potter was best of a strong home line-up in fourth and here’s how the race played out…
Swim – Stop start for Szalai
The big news before the start was that Hungarian phenom Fanni Szalai had been hit by a 10-seconds penalty for missing the race briefing on Friday afternoon. The 18-year-old, who had a superb WTCS debut last time out in Hamburg, had been pictured on social media this week at the Hungarian GP in Budapest before flying to London.
An already slightly delayed start time was put back a fraction further by an incredibly long gap until the horn sounded and the women finally dived off the pontoon and into the water at the Royal Docks.
The near side looked the place to be and by the time they got to the first right-hand turn on the 750m clockwise loop it was Tilly Anema (GBR) who led things out.
She was closely followed by Szalai and then Knibb, with uber-swimmer Bianca Seregni (ITA) only fourth and Sophie Evans (GBR) in fifth.
And as they headed back to a unique transition it was that five along with Jeanne Lehair (LUX) who started to put daylight between themselves and the rest.
The run to T1 saw the athletes enter the venue up a flight of carpeted stairs and of the race favourites, Tertsch was seventh at +19s, Potter was ninth at +21s, Georgia Taylor-Brown was 23rd at +29s and Beaugrand was unusually far back in 27th at +31s.
Bike – The Taylor Knibb show
Szalai served her 10-seconds penalty straight away and was on her bike before the bulk of the athletes had got through T1.
Ahead of them was 20km on the bike over a flat and fast seven anti-clockwise laps and due to the short distance of each lap, the World Triathlon Technical committee had given a rule exception to allow lapped athletes to remain on the bike course.
It was no surprise to see Knibb surge to the front as she and Anema powered clear.
Just under 10 seconds behind after the first lap were the rest of the top seven from the swim – including Szalai!
It was a similar distance to the main chase pack and great transitions from Beaugrand and Taylor-Brown had helped them work their way into that group.
Lap two saw the chasers get right on the back of those in third to seventh and they joined together on lap three – 15 seconds behind Knibb and Anema.
There was incredible bike power in the 36-strong main group but Knibb showed once again why she is the current American time trial champion as she not only held them off but also started to widen the gap.
After four laps she and Anema – Knibb on the front throughout – now had an advantage of 30 seconds.
But on the fifth lap there was heartbreak for Anema who clipped a couple of cones and hit the tarmac hard, a devastating end to her race.
Knibb continued to drive it but the gap now started to narrow slightly – 25 seconds to Taylor Spivey (USA) at the end of lap five.
And that pattern continued – 23 seconds when the bell went at the end of lap six and by the time she reached T2 she had just 21 seconds to play with on the run, with all the rest of the big contenders in the main group.
Run – One-way traffic
The run course consisted of three laps and went in and out of the Excel, with close to half of it indoors.
Knibb knew the pack were closing and they had reeled her in before the end of the first lap.
The run firepower up front was incredible – Beaugrand, just ahead of Tertsch and Månsson. Also in close proximity were Taylor-Brown and Emma Lombardi (FRA) and there was then a small gap to Potter, Leonie Periault (FRA) and the rest.
Midway through lap two and it continued to be Beaugrand, Tertsch and Månsson up front – more than that, they were moving clear of the rest.
With one lap remaining it was a fascinating battle – Beaugrand with all her recent French national running records against up-and-coming star Månsson and world champion Tertsch.
They had eight seconds on Potter who was finishing strongly and now up to fourth.
On that last lap Månsson was the first to crack and Beaugrand looked frighteningly strong in front as she cruised clear of Tertsch for a hugely impressive success.
Potter was fourth, Periault fifth, Taylor-Brown sixth and Knibb seventh.
WTCS London 2026 results
Saturday 25 July 2026 – 750m / 20km / 5km
Elite Women
| Position | Athlete | Nationality | Swim | Bike | Run | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cassandre Beaugrand | FRA | 10:07 | 28:58 | 15:27 | 56:06 |
| 2 | Lisa Tertsch | GER | 9:56 | 29:10 | 15:36 | 56:11 (+0:05) |
| 3 | Tilda Månsson | SWE | 10:11 | 28:49 | 15:42 | 56:21 (+0:15) |
| 4 | Beth Potter | GBR | 9:58 | 29:07 | 15:45 | 56:26 (+0:20) |
| 5 | Leonie Periault | FRA | 10:02 | 29:06 | 15:45 | 56:28 (+0:22) |
| 6 | Georgia Taylor-Brown | GBR | 10:05 | 28:56 | 15:53 | 56:32 (+0:26) |
| 7 | Taylor Knibb | USA | 9:42 | 28:56 | 16:15 | 56:33 (+0:27) |
| 8 | Jeanne Lehair | LUX | 9:49 | 29:19 | 15:56 | 56:36 (+0:30) |
| 9 | Diana Isakova | AIN | 9:59 | 29:06 | 16:00 | 56:42 (+0:36) |
| 10 | Emma Lombardi | FRA | 10:03 | 28:59 | 16:08 | 56:43 (+0:37) |
WTCS standings after London (which is race 6)
| Position | Athlete | Nationality | Events | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beth Potter | GBR | 4 | 3641.45 |
| 2 | Tilda Månsson | SWE | 4 | 3636.26 |
| 3 | Lisa Tertsch | GER | 4 | 3497.08 |
| 4 | Leonie Periault | FRA | 4 | 3389.18 |
| 5 | Jeanne Lehair | LUX | 4 | 3234.80 |
| 6 | Cassandre Beaugrand | FRA | 3 | 3000.00 |
| 7 | Georgia Taylor-Brown | GBR | 4 | 2772.23 |
| 8 | Emma Lombardi | FRA | 4 | 2751.39 |
| 9 | Jolien Vermeylen | BEL | 4 | 2685.63 |
| 10 | Taylor Spivey | USA | 4 | 2682.38 |
