This was our preview of WTCS Weihai 2024 – you can read full reports on how Alex Yee scorched to victory in the men’s race and Lisa Tertsch claimed a breakthrough success.
There is much on the line as the WTCS resumes after the Paris 2024 Olympics and at a brand new venue – Weihai in China.
Weihai made its World Cup return last year and now becomes the first top tier event in China since Beijing hosted the 2011 Grand Final.
And, with a reduced WTCS programme in 2024, plenty of athletes head to China in need to points to boost their world title hopes.
That means stacked start lists – read on to find out more…
Start time and how to watch live
WTCS Weihai takes place on Friday September 27, with the men kicking things off at 08:30 local time. This corresponds to 01:30 in the UK, 20:30 on the East Coast on Thursday and 17:30 on the West Coast, again on Thursday.
Just over three hours later, the women will race at 11:45 local time. That’s 04:45 in the UK, 23:45 on the East Coast (Thursday) and 20:45 West Coast (Thursday).
All the action will be available to watch live via Triathlonlive.tv
Elite Men racing in Weihai
This is going to be the latest showdown between Paris one-two Alex Yee (GBR) and Hayden Wilde (NZL) as their great rivalry continues.
Wilde has had the upper hand since the Olympics and comes here on the back of wins in the last two supertri events, with Yee admitting he has been “mentally tired” after his Paris heroics.
There’s another huge prize up for grabs too – what would be a first world title for either of them. They are the only two in the top 15 of the standings to only have two (of the maximum three) counting events so a win would put them in prime position for the Series Final in Torremolinos-Andalucia.
Yee has a perfect 2,000 points after his victories in Cagliari and Paris, but Wilde isn’t far behind on 1,850.
Leading the way is Matt Hauser (AUS) on 2,301, with Pierre Le Corre (FRA) next on 2,110 and they both line up too.
Indeed there’s a strong French contingent again which includes 2022 world champion Léo Bergere as well as the great Vincent Luis who will bow out of WTCS racing after this season.
Click here for latest WTCS standings and full start list.
Elite Women racing in Weihai
Unlike the men, there’s a runaway leader in the women’s standings and that’s Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand. She has a perfect three-out-of-three record – though Hamburg was sprint distance so ‘only’ worth 750 points.
That leaves her on 2,750 points and with a healthy lead over compatriot Emma Lombardi (2,438) and both have opted out of Weihai which is understandable.
So who can make the biggest strides to closing the gap? No-one can overtake Beaugrand before the Series Final but reigning champ Beth Potter (GBR) and Lisa Tertsch (GER) are best placed to get in the mix in third and fourth respectively.
All the current top 10 have three counting scores and the first exception after that is Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR), with 1,354 points from two. A win won’t see her usurp the top two but she has to be one of the favourites on Friday given she’s now back to full fitness and has won the last two supertri events, holding off Beaugrand in both cases.
Lots of other big names line up, including 2016 Olympic champion Gwen Jorgensen (USA)
Click here for latest WTCS standings and full start list.
Course and distance
We’re racing over the Olympic distance (1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run) which means the winners will each collect 1,000 points.
It’s a beach start for the swim and a two lap affair.
The eight-loop bike course differs from recent World Cups in Weihai as it heads into the hills above Halfmoon Bay which could make things more interesting than many of the bike courses we’ve seen this season.
And the run is four 2.5km circuits around the beach block.
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