As the 2024 WTCS arrives at the Hamburg stop, we find ourselves at the midpoint of the season. With two races down, the leaderboard is starting to take shape but plenty could change from here. By way of reminder, the athletes will carry their three best results from races in the Series, Olympic Games and Continental Championships into the WTCS Final in Torremolinos-Andalucia in October.

In light of the cancellation of WTCS Abu Dhabi, Hamburg will be the only sprint distance event of the 2024 Series. However it comes with a catch. Being less than three weeks out from the Olympic Games, it has forced those that will be in Paris to either stick or twist. On the one hand, it offers a final chance to test their legs ahead of the Games. On the other, some athletes have chosen to hold their fire. 

Before you catch all the action on TriathlonLive, check out some of the headlining stars and major stories to follow below.

The Series leaders

Two athletes that will look to maximise their points in Hamburg will be our current Series leaders, Luke Willian (AUS) and Emma Lombardi (FRA). So long as Willian finishes in the top-9 this weekend, he will leave Germany with his Series leadership intact. Lombardi likewise will be assured of retaining her lead with a top-9 finish, no matter what any of her rivals produce.

At the same time, Willian and Lombardi will be confronted by domestic rivals. The former was beaten to 2nd place by Matthew Hauser (AUS) in Yokohama, while the latter had no answer to Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) in Cagliari. As a result, the sternest challenges to Willian and Lombardi could come from their own teammates.

Elsewhere, Lisa Tertsch (GER) arrives ranked 3rd overall in the women’s Series and will look to step up at her home race and the site of her maiden WTCS medal. In order to overhaul Lombardi, she will need to win with her French rival finishing no better than 10th. Taylor Knibb (USA) will not be starting and so will likely lose her grip on 2nd for now. Likewise, Charles Paquet (CAN) and Csongor Lehmann (HUN) will be absent so a shake up in the men’s top-3 overall can be expected.

Potential leaders

In addition to Lombardi and Tertsch three other women can take the top spot in the standings. Beaugrand, Kate Waugh (GBR) and Anna Godoy Contreras (ESP) are the only athletes with a mathematically possible chance of ending the weekend as the leading lady. Given that Beaugrand won in Hamburg last year and took her first WTCS win in the German city back in 2018, perhaps she will be the key athlete to watch. She would, however, require Lombardi to miss the top-9 and Tertsch to finish outside the top-7 in the event that she wins.

On the men’s side, five athletes are also in the hunt for the Series lead. Willian and Hauser can end the weekend on top, as can Vincent Luis (FRA), Morgan Pearson (USA) and Alberto Gonzalez Garcia (ESP). Willian made the top-10 in both Yokohama and Cagliari but should he miss out this weekend, Luis and Pearson are best placed to strike.

Olympic thinking

With Paris only weeks away, it is only natural that plenty of eyes will look ahead to the Olympic Games. In Hamburg, several athletes will be starting with aspirations of stepping upon the Olympic podium. The reigning world champion Beth Potter (GBR) is a major name to flag here, as are former WTCS gold medallists Maya Kingma (NED) and Rachel Klamer (NED). On the men’s side, Pierre Le Corre (FRA) is another WTCS gold medallist to start while Vasco Vilaca (POR), a quadruple WTCS medallist in 2023, will look to ignite his season after a nasty crash in Yokohama.

Keep an eye out too for Manoel Messias (BER). The Brazilian star will have high hopes in Paris but also won two medals over the sprint distance in the 2023 Series and so could be a key player in Hamburg.

Several Paris Olympians have elected to swerve Hamburg. The 2022 and 2023 men’s world champions, Leo Bergere (FRA) and Dorian Coninx (FRA) miss out, as do Alex Yee and double Hamburg winner Hayden Wilde (NZL). None of the American women’s Olympic team will be present while Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR), Flora Duffy (BER) and Leonie Periault (FRA) similarly are biding their time ahead of Paris.

German hopefuls

The queen of Hamburg, Laura Lindemann (GER), is a surprise absence from the race. No one has won as many medals at the event as the German star but her focus this year falls on the Olympics. Her teammates Nina Eim, Tim Hellwig and Jonas Schomburg also miss out as they prioritise Paris. Nevertheless, the home team will have several talents to watch.

Tertsch could be a big player, as noted above, while Annika Koch (GER) races on the back of her win at the Tiszaujvaros World Cup. WTCS medallists Lena Meißner and Lasse Lührs and World U23 champion Selina Klamt will also look to give the home crowd plenty to cheer for.

New faces

A smattering of WTCS debutants will line up on the Hamburg pontoon for the first time. Among the names to look out for are two young guns Joao Nuno Batista (POR) and Mathis Beaulieu (CAN) return to the scene of the crime from 2023. Batista won the World Junior title in Hamburg last year, to go with his European Junior crown, while Beaulieu claimed the bronze medal. The Canadian youngster also earned a maiden World Cup medal in Huatulco recently and could thrive on the fast street circuit.

German attention will be on Henry Graf (GER) who has won three Continental Cups this year while World Cup winner David Cantero del Campo (ESP) is another young athlete that will be making a much-anticipated Series bow. Furthermore Yanis Seguin (FRA) and Jessica Fullagar (GBR) start after both taking home a silver medal from the Samarkand World Cup in May while Manami Iijima (GUM) makes her Series debut ahead of her coming appearance at the Olympic Games.

Across the board, then, there will be plenty to track in Hamburg. Stay up to date with all the latest across World Triathlon channels and catch the action live on TriathlonLive.