Cassandre Beaugrand, Matt Hauser take WTCS Hamburg

Casandre Beaugrand of Frace and Matt Hauser of Australia dominated the sprint distance WTCS Hamburg with race-best runs providing their margins of victory.

Beaugrand made a statement that she was a favorite to take a home country Olympic gold medal in Paris three weeks hence with a dominating 11-seconds win at Hamburg. Beaugrand’s momentum is strong as she also took WTCS Cagliari last month.

Beaugrand emerged from a traffic jam at T2 with an immediate blast onto the run, opening a 14-seconds lead at the halfway point. Beaugrand then held on to finish in 55:19 with a 15:20 5k run split that was 12 seconds faster than Beth Potter of Great Britain. Lisa Tertsch of Germany prevailed with a back and forth, barn burner of a battle with Potter to the finish in 55:30 to Potter’s 55:31. However, Beaugrand will face strong resistance as co-favorites Taylor Knibb of the U.S., Geogia Taylor-Brown of Great Britain, Flora Duffy of Bermuda and Yokohama winner Leonie Periault of France skipped Hamburg to rest up for Paris.

Australian Matt Hauser increased his Olympic momentum with a win at Hamburg, backing up his runner-up finish at WTCS Yokohama to start his 2024 season. While Hauser has reason to be optimistic to become the first Australian Olympic gold medalist, he must face several Hamburg no-shows including Hayden Wilde of New Zealand, Leo Bergere and Dorian Coninx of France, Alex Yee of Great Britain and defending Olympic champion Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway (albeit off-form so far this season).

“That was tough out there but I am really happy with the win,” Hauser told World Triathlon media. “I feel good now. Going into Tokyo was a different story, I was praying to Hail Mary to get a good result there, but this year I want to enjoy the experience. I am in some of the best form that I’ve ever been. I I can’t fear anyone. We are best friends on and off the course, but at a race you gotta keep the blinders on and just go.”

The Women

Up the ramp after the swim, Great Britain’s Olivia Mathias and Switzerland’s Therese Feuersinger led the way over Germany’s Lisa Tertsch and Luxemberg’s Jeanne Lehair while Beth Potter, Beaugrand and Tertsch chased 9 seconds back. Emma Lombardi, Maya Kingma and Katie Zaferes were further off the pace.

A foursome of Feuersinger, Tertsch, Mathias and Lehair began to pull away before Britain’s Kate Waugh pulled the chasers up the pace. Potter and Waugh led the front pack through lap two, while Cathia Schär and Emma Lombardi led the chasers as the packs merged. At the bell 26 athletes arrived at T2 together.

At T2 Tertsch, Lena Meissner of Germany and Brea Roderick of New Zealand hit the run first. Beaugrand quickly joined the front along with Annika Koch of Germany and Lombardi, Waugh, Potter and Schär.
Beaugrand immediately carved out a lead that was never threatened, while Waugh fell out of contention when she stopped briefly to fix a loose shoe.

At the bell Beaugrand finished her big Olympic statement two weeks out from a home Games. Just when Potter had the silver in her grasp, Tertsch found another gear onto the blue carpet and took silver, Potter with bronze, Lehair in fourth and Emma Lombardi 5th.

Elite Women Results

July 13, 2024
Hamburg, Germany
S 750m / B 20k/ R 5k

1. Cassandre Beaugrand FRA S 10:02 T1 00:30 B 29:05 T2 00:23 R 15:20 TOT 55:19
2. Lisa Tertsch GER S 10:00 T1 00:29 B 29:04 T2 00:22 R 15:36 TOT 55:30
3. Beth Potter GBR S 10:03 T1 00:32 B q29:02 T2 00:24 R 15:32 TOT 55:31
4. Jeanne Lehair LUX S 9:53 T1 00:32 B 29:15 T2 00:24 R 15:32 TOT 55:33
5. Emma Lombardi FRA S 10:09 T1 00:31 B 28:55 T2 00:23 R 15:39 TOT 55:35
6. Anika Koch GER S 10:03 T1 00:31 B 29:00 T2 00:24 R 15:48 TOT 55:45
7. Kate Waugh GBR ZS 10:05 T1 009:32 B 28:58 T2 00:27 R 15:48 TOT 55:48
8. Cathia Schair SUI S 10:25 T1 00:32 B 28:38 T2 00:24 R 16:03 TOT 56:00
9. Rachel Klamer NED S 10:14 T1 00:33 B 28:51 T2 00:254 R 16:11 TOT 56:12
10. Marlene Gomez-Goggel GER S 10:08 T1 00:31 B 28:57 T2 00:25 R 16:18 TOT 56:17
14. Erika Ackerlund USA S 10:05 T1 00:32 B 29:00 T2 00:22 R 16:30 TOT 56:27
24. Katie Zaferes USA S 10:12 T1 00:38 B 28:53 T2 00:27 R 16:52 TOT 57:00
33. Gwen Jorgensen USA S 10:08 T1 00:36 B e30:49 T2 00:29 R 15:50
41. Gina Sereno USA S 10:11 T1 00:34 B 32:01 T2 00:29 R 16:24 TOT 59:37

The Men

Hauser started his day in a crowded swim, 3 seconds back of swim co-leaders Mark Devay of Hungary, Alessio Crociani of Italy and Vincent Luis of France. Hauser fell 20 seconds back of the bike leaders on the run, then ran past Crociani and Casper Stornes of Norway, reaching the shoulder of race leader Vasco Vilaca of Portugal at the halfway point.

Pierre Le Corre moved into third with Vincent Luis on his shoulder but as the pace continued to rise, Luis had no answer. Hauser dropping the hammer decisively on the way to a 13:40 run to the gold leaving Vilaca with silver and Le Corre with bronze.

“The biggest goal today was to get a good race and not to crash, getting myself confident again when I’m riding on a big group, ” Vilaca told Triathlon World media. “I am very happy with the result today. Matt was really the best one out there… I had a bad swim and quite a lot of work to do on the bike but I am happy with my form right now and looking forward to Paris.”

“I am really happy because we have the Olympics is in two weeks and I wanted to check that all the work has been done,” Le Corre told World Triathlon media. “I think I am pretty fit, so now it is only rest until the Olympics.”

Elite Men Results

1. Matthew Hauser AUS S 9:04 T1 00:30 B 26:31 T2 00:20 R 13:40 TOT 50:03
2. Vasco Vilaca POR S 9:17 T1 00:32 B 26:11 T2 00:21 R 13:49 TOT 50:09
3. Pierre Le Corre FRA S 9:05 T1 00:29 B 26:27 T2 00:22 R 13:50 TOT 50:10
4. Jelle Geens BEL S 9:19 T1 00:29 B 26:11 T2 00:23 R 13:58 TOIT 50:18
5. Casper Stornes NOR S 9:10 T1 00:30 B 26:22 T2 00:21 R 13:59 TOT 50:19
6. Vincent Luis FRA S 9:01 T1 00:30 B 26:29 T2 00:21 R 14:03 TOT 50:23
7. Alessio Crociani ITA S 9:01 T1 00:29 B 26:28 T2 00:20 R 14:12 TOT 50:28
8. Alberto Gonzalez Garcia ESP S 9:12 T1 00:28 B 26:23 T2 00:23 R 14:14 TOT 50:38
9. Max Stapley GBR S 9:03 T1 00:32 B 216:27 T2 00:24 R 14:15 TOT 50:39
10. Luke Willian AUS S 9:08 T1 00:28 B 26:29 T2 00:22 R 14:23 TOT 50:49
27. Chase Mc Queen USA S 9:02 T1 00:30 B 26:30 T2 00:21 R 15:15 TOT 51:36
43. Darr Smith USA S 9:12 T1 00:31 B 27:26 T2 00:23 R 15:32 TOT 53:02