With the top tier 2024 short course season done and dusted following the WTCS finale in Torremolinos and the supertri Grand Final in Neom, attention now switches to next year.
In terms of WTCS racing it will be fascinating to see how the year pans out given it’s the first of the new Olympic cycle – and there’s the temptation of T100 riches on offer for those who decide to move up.
We’ve already seen Taylor Knibb and Marten Van Riel put themselves in pole position in that arena in recent months, with others likely to follow.
And it’s clear that one thing which hasn’t done WTCS any favours in the last couple of seasons is the nature of many of the courses. Countless races have boiled down to run battles after stalemates on the bike – but could that be about to change?
Weihai a glimmer of hope?
For one notable exception this year was the final regular WTCS race in Weihai, China.
In our race preview we’d said: “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 that proved to be very much the case, resulting in much more dynamic races which were relished by viewers and athletes alike, including Team GB trio Alex Yee, Beth Potter and Georgia Taylor-Brown.
All three sat down with TRI247 to give their views on the importance of a mix of courses on the WTCS calendar – and were in full agreement that what we saw there Weihai was a welcome step forward this season.
And Weihai’s roll of honour at World Cup level is fascinating too – plenty of future triathlon superstars have tended to win there.
Yee who won in Weihai with a masterclass of a display and then added a first world title to his Olympic crown in Torremolinos, says he feels the WTCS series should “truly reflect the most complete triathlete over the course of a year.”
Given which he added: “I think we should have challenging bike courses and technical ones that ask different questions so you get the true reflection of the athletes.
“And I think for us that Weihai was exciting, I really enjoyed it. The same for people watching, even though it was crazy o’clock in the morning in Europe.
“I think it should be here to stay because it was a really, really good course. And done really well. It had been completely resurfaced and they obviously put a lot of effort into the race. And the Weihai [World Cup] triathlon before that has quite a history.”
‘Bored of riding around car parks’
Potter, world champion last year, echoed that by saying: “Yeah, that was much more fun as it was becoming a bit stale.
“Pontevedra last year [where she won her world title] had an interesting run too. It’s not just like boring up-and-down promenades.
“I think there need to be more races like that. It makes it more fun. It means different people on the podium too.
“You actually have to have some bike skill and power and not just sit in the pack and roll along. So hopefully more courses like Weihai.”
Taylor-Brown spoke to us before Paris about the strong possibility that the women’s race would boil down to the run, like so many this season, whatever was tried on the bike.
And that prediction was spot on despite the presence of herself, reigning champ Flora Duffy and uber-biker Taylor Knibb, who in the past have all been able to shake up races on two wheels.
Early indications for Los Angeles in 2028 don’t bode well for an interesting bike section and Taylor-Brown told us: “I guess I’m just a little bit bored of riding around car parks and housing estates when it’s just flat.
It’s not exciting to watch and it’s not very exciting to do.
“Go back a few years and you had Flora, Jess [Learmonth], Katie [Zaferes] and we had groups where we were working together. There were breakaways and it led to exciting racing.
“It’s just a bit different now – it often comes down to a run race and it’s not really for me, I’m kind of done with that.
“So I’m happy that World Triathlon is starting to introduce a few more interesting courses – I guess they’re listening to us because we’ve said for a while that we would like something a little bit more challenging. So it’s good to see that happening and I think we’re all very happy to move with those times.”
How is 2025 WTCS schedule shaping up?
And as Georgia suggests, the signs are encouraging for 2025.
There could be one more race added but what we know of the schedule so far is as follows:
- February 14-15 – Abu Dhabi
- May 17 – Yokohama
- May 31 – TBC but somewhere in Sardinia
- July 12-13 – Hamburg
- September 14 – Karlovy Vary
- September – TBC but somewhere in China
- October 15-19 – Wollongong
And we asked our Chief Correspondent John Levison, with his years of unrivalled experience, how they stacked up in terms of potential entertainment.
He said: “Karlovy Vary is a proper course. It’s been around for years on the World Cup, has lots of history and a tough hill on the bike – it’s a great addition.
“Maya Kingma won there this year with a bike breakaway, for example.
“And If Sardinia is Arzachena (rather than Cagliari) then that would be another with a decent hill / descent. We’ve had World Cups there recently – Jonny Brownlee won in both 2021 and 2022.
“So if you have both of those – with some of the more regular ones – then at first glance it appears to provide a more balanced all-round mix.”
