The early races were switched to duathlon because of heavy rain, the heat ramped up as the days went on, and the action never stopped for a rollercoaster weekend of racing in Montreal.
After multiple qualifying races in the eliminator super-sprint format to whittle the field down to a final 10 athletes each in the men’s and women’s sprint races, it was the Brits who came out on top, with Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown besting the competition, respectively. Yee held off a hard-charging Hayden Wilde (NZL), who finished second despite a mechanical issue on the bike. And Taylor-Brown’s win was the latest in a consistent string of dominating victories, though she was quick to celebrate a new twist: fellow countrywoman Beth Potter finished third behind France’s Cassandre Beaugrand to join Taylor-Brown on the podium, her first-ever in WTCS racing.
Great Britain’s plans for a hat trick in Montreal were thwarted by France, who employed a fresh lineup of athletes in the mixed team relay event. France, who won the bronze medal in mixed relay at the Tokyo Olympics, unleashed the combo of Beugrand, Vincent Luis, Pierre le Core, and Emma Lombardi to take a dominating win of more than 23 seconds over the second place British team of Taylor-Brown, Yee, Sophie Caldwell, and Samuel Dickinson. The U.S. team of Seth Rider, Taylor Spivey, Kevin McDowell, and Summer Rappaport took third. The race was also the start of the Paris Olympic journey, as the Montreal event offered the first qualifying spots of any sport for the 2024 Games. As the host country, France had already secured their mixed relay spot in the Games; by default, then, the second-place Brits and third-place American team locked in their berths for the Paris 2024 triathlon mixed relay event.
Keep scrolling for a gallery of Montreal WTCS racing from World Triathlon Wagner Araujo and Ben Lumley; for post-race analysis read Brad Culp’s recap in Last Weekend Now.