It looks like a second World Triathlon Championship Series title is now a confirmed target for Cassandre Beaugrand.
The French superstar won her first WTCS crown just months after becoming Olympic champion on home roads in Paris in 2024.
Last year she just missed out on retaining it after a dramatic finale in Wollongong.
But this season has seen her focus more on her running, collecting French national records over 3,000 metres on the track – when she fulfilled an ambition to race in the Monaco Diamond League – 5,000 metres and 10km on the road.
Game on in China
However she’s also managed to race three WTCS events and has won all three of them, the latest in London.
But after that she suggested that a tilt at the world title still wasn’t a certainty, saying afterwards: “It doesn’t make my choices easy for what I’m doing next.”
The best four scores plus the Grand Final in Pontevedra determine the title and Beaugrand is in sixth with those 3,000 points (the rest of the top 10 have all raced at least four times) and still has one more counting race to come should she choose to race either Weihai in China or Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic.
| Pos | Athlete | Nation | 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 |
And the initial start list for WTCS Weihai on 29 August shows her as the only female French athlete set to travel to China, a clear indication of the decision she has made – with the closer-to-home race in Karlovy Vary there as an insurance policy.
In current form she’ll be an overwhelming favourite to move to the top of the standings but she’ll be up against the previous two winners in Weihai – Beth Potter (GBR) last year and reigning world champion Lisa Tertsch (GER) in 2024.
Jeanne Lehair (LUX) will also be there but plenty of others in the top 10 have elected not to make the trip – Tilda Månsson (SWE), Leonie Periault (FRA), Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR), Emma Lombardi (FRA) and Taylor Spivey (USA), while Jolien Vermeylen is currently injured.
It’s good to see the return of two Brits though – Tilly Anema after her nasty bike crash when she was right in the mix at WTCS London and Kate Waugh after an injury-hit first half of the year.
Matt aiming for grandstand finish
There’s a similar dynamic at play with the men’s start list as reigning world champion Matt Hauser looks to leapfrog into the lead at the top of the standings.
The Aussie has been playing catch up after missing the opening event in Samarkand to instead make his T100 debut in Singapore and then getting caught up in a bike crash at WTCS Alghero.
But like Beaugrand he too has a perfect record in the three races he’s completed and currently sits third in the standings, with the two men ahead of him – Vasco Vilaca (POR) and Miguel Hidalgo (BRA) – both sitting this one out.
Last year’s surprise winner Max Studer (SUI) returns and back from injury is Márton Kropkó (HUN) who had animated WTCS Samarkand before he pulled up on the run with the issue which would keep him on the sidelines until now.
And another potential star of the future is Solomon Okrafo-Smart (GBR) who will be making his WTCS bow in Weihai after notching a first World Cup success in Edmonton recently.
