This weekend marks the sixth stop of the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS), the highest level of short-course racing, in London. In addition to the race for this year’s World Champion crown, it will also serve as another crucial points-scoring opportunity for athletes on the road to the LA 2028 Olympic Games.

This sprint-distance course is unique in that it is based out of the London ExCeL Centre, with much of the run taking place indoors. Having been there for the London T100, we can confirm it’s an iconic, high-energy venue that’s a fitting stage for a weekend where short-course racing will be paired with the T100 event, both based out of the same venue.

Here’s a preview of the elite athletes racing this weekend.

Men’s Race

The big names on the start list include Matt Hauser, Vasco Vilaça, Alex Yee, Miguel Hidalgo, Ricardo Batista, and Canada’s Charles Paquet.

Since 2024, Hauser has won four of the six sprint-distance WTCS races. However, with two wins and two second-place finishes so far this year, it’s Vilaça who will line up wearing bib number one (and Vilaça who currently sits atop the Series standings with four scoring races so far this season).

With that said, Vilaça has never beaten Hauser in a WTCS sprint race. The closest he’s come was in Hamburg, where just three seconds separated the pair.

Olympic champion Yee will also be racing in front of a home crowd, which is sure to draw plenty of cheers and excitement.

Paquet, meanwhile, has been having a standout season for Canada. He currently sits fifth in the Series standings thanks to a third-place finish in Samarkand and two fifth-place finishes.

Women’s Race

On the women’s side, the big names include Cassandre Beaugrand, Beth Potter, Lisa Tertsch, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Taylor Knibb, Tilda Månsson, Jeanne Lehair, Taylor Spivey, and Emma Lombardi.

Potter, the 2023 world champion and current Series leader, will be wearing bib number one in front of a home crowd. But the spotlight has really been on Olympic champion Beaugrand, who took victories in Alghero and Quiberon and also recently set a new 3,000m running record.

Reigning world champion Tertsch is also one to watch, as is Månsson, who out-sprinted Potter and Lehair to take the win in Yokohama. Månsson also made the podium in Quiberon after running in lock-step with Beaugrand down the finishing stretch, and again in Hamburg.

Excitingly, this race will be broadcast on the BBC, with the women’s race starting on Saturday, July 25 at 2:30pm, followed by the men’s race at 4:15pm.