Beth Potter overtakes Léonie Perreault while Cassandre Beaugrande does not start due to illness, while Vasco Vilassa, after nine previous podium finishes, finally takes gold.
Updated April 26, 2026 at 12:01 AM
After the postponement of the opening match in Abu Dhabi, the WTCS season finally got underway in Samarkand, Uzbekistan – and it did not disappoint. It was heat, breakaways and unpredictability that defined the first Olympic distance clash of the year, with eight races to go (and perhaps nine if Abu Dhabi returns).
The women’s race lost one of its headliners before it even started. Cassandre Pogrande (FRA), who was scheduled to have a rematch with 2025 series winner Lisa Tertsch (GER), woke up ill and withdrew. Then, midway through the race, Tertch crashed out of contention on the bike. Thus, the door opened wide for anyone to take the tape.
On the men’s side, with the absence of Alex Yee (London Marathon leader) and 2025 champion Matthew Hauser (Singapore T100 racer alongside Hayden Wylde), series hopefuls Vasco Vilaca and Miguel Hidalgo, who have long hovered near the top – often in the shadows of the aforementioned trio, have had a chance.
“I did swimming and cycling very well – to be honest, it was running that I was most afraid of.” – Beth Potter
Despite the heat, the cold water wetsuit added a unique dynamic between heat and cold and opened a window to gain time during the transition period. Italian Bianca Sereni led the way, with Potter finishing 13th out of the water. Gwen Jorgensen, racing on her 40th birthday, came out right behind her, while Georgia Taylor-Brown and Tersch were about 50 seconds behind, leaving work to do.
On the bike, the race split up early as the swimming gaps paid off. An initial group of 10 tried to fend off the fast charging pack behind them, but with strong riders such as Taylor Brown and recent Gold Coast T100 runner-up Jessica Fullagar leading the pace, the groups eventually merged into a front group of 24.
Leading riders such as Potter, Perriault and Jean Lehire positioned themselves well on the bike, but before T2, Taylor-Brown, in a season not focused on results, decided to “try something new” and launched a solo move, creating a 35-second gap before the race.
Unfortunately for her, it wasn’t enough against Potter and Perreault, who ran about a minute faster than the rest of the field on their way to a first- and second-place finish. It was 2023 world champion Potter who finally pulled away on the final lap to take a complete win after a somewhat disappointing end to 2025.
WTCS Samarkand Women’s Results 2026
“I just closed my eyes and went for it.” – Vasco Vilasa
In the men’s race, with many of those big names missing and many competitors missing due to the late start to the season, there was an opportunity to make a difference in the race early after the swim.
Hungary’s Marton Krupko led the way with a time of 17:33 over the 1500 metres. Hidalgo made the most of his No. 1 pole with a strong start, while another favorite Vilaka exited about 30 seconds ahead of the race.
Krupko and Hidalgo initially charged from the front of the bike, trying to close the gap, but with Vilaka and a large chasing group behind them, it was only a matter of time before they were cleared. That moment came just before the halfway mark, where a front group of over 20 people had now formed.
As in the women’s race, a late bike breakaway from American Chase McQueen and Krupko added some tension and intrigue, but with the strongest riders biding their time, the 25-second gap never looked safe heading into the race.
What followed was a tight battle between six men, before they eventually broke down to just three – Vilassa, Charles Paquet and Graf – with Vilassa only making his decisive move in the final 400 meters to overtake Graf, who took second, while Canadian Charles Paquet secured his first WTCS podium in third. Hidalgo later participated Inexplicably, his legs “locked up” while running, forcing him to withdraw early.
Vilaka later credited Graf after the race for working hard up front to help hold off the charging British duo of Oliver Conway and Hugo Milner, who were cutting up the field from behind, and eventually ran the fastest segments of the day (29:36 and 29:40) to finish fifth and seventh. Conway blames poor swimming for costing him the race, as it dropped him into the bike pack just behind Vilassa’s group, just enough out of contact to negate his running speed.
WTCS Samarkand Men’s Results 2026
Next on the world triathlon circuit, the series heads to Yokohama, Japan, on May 16-17, and to Alghero, Italy, at the end of May, where deeper fields are expected as the Olympic qualifying period begins in Los Angeles.
