For the entire 9.95km run, Georgia Taylor-Brown held the perfect poker race face. Then came the final turn onto the blue carpet in Karlovy Vary. The game face disappeared and a huge smile took its place. And with the finish line in front of her came the sheer relief of knowing that a three year absence from the top spot was about to end.

For Taylor-Brown, this was an emotional victory as she was crowned a WTCS winner again. In her own words: “I DID IT, I DID IT! WE FINALLY DID IT!!!”

 

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How the Race Unfolded

Taylor-Brown raced to victory on Sunday at the WTCS Karlovy Vary in 2:03:05, finishing 36 seconds ahead of Taylor Spivey, with Lisa Tertsch claiming bronze.

Karlovy Vary was the penultimate race before the championship series finale in Pontevedra, and thus the final opportunity to notch regular season points.

This was not an easy race for the women’s elite field. The bike course in Karlovy Vary is one of the series’ most technical and, with rain falling before the race, the roads were simply treacherous.

With 45 women taking to the start line, nearly one quarter did not finish the race, with multiple crashes on the slick cobblestones contributing to the DNFs.

After coming out of the water among a tightly packed front group of 10, with only 11 seconds separating first out of the water Bianca Seregni and Taylor-Brown (in tenth), the lead group tackled the rain-soaked seven-lap circuit.

Multiple crashes and near misses continued to disrupt the chase while a trio consisting of Taylor-Brown, Spivey, and Therese Feuersinger broke away and continued building their advantage, arriving at T2 with a 2:31 advantage.

Spivey charged out of T2 and onto the 10km run, but Taylor-Brown moved past her on the opening lap and steadily stretched the gap. Five seconds became 17, then 30.

By the time Taylor-Brown reached the final turn toward the blue carpet, there was no one left to catch her. All that remained was to erase the 1,205 days between WTCS victories. Finally, she could smile and lift the finishing banner high.

When asked after the race whether the victory felt amazing, an emotional Taylor-Brown admitted that she had begun to accept the possibility that she might never get back there: “I’m quite emotional about it. I didn’t think I was ever going to get there again to be honest. I kind of settled for just like playing with the girls in the front and being in the top six so I’m just really happy I could make the race today.”

Behind her, Karlovy Vary once again proved to be a special place for Spivey. She took silver here in 2025, which had been her most recent WTCS medal, and repeated the result this past Sunday. Her performance earned 925 points and moved her two positions in the Series standings, from tenth to eighth.

Tertsch completed the podium after producing the fastest run of the day in 33:34. She has now podiumed in five of seven WTCS starts this season and repeated the bronze medal she earned in Karlovy Vary last year. She remains fourth in the Series standings.

With regular season racing now complete, attention turns to the World Triathlon Championship Finals in Pontevedra, with the women’s race on Saturday, September 26th, and the men’s race on Sunday, September 27th, where the 2026 world champions will be crowned.