Cassandre Beaugrand wrapped up the perfect season today in Pontevedra. She arrived at the WTCS Grand Final with a perfect score from four wins in four starts: Alghero in May, Quiberon in June, London in July, and Weihai in August. The cost and pressure of holding the crown, and of this level of continued greatness, can be high. But despite starting the season not even intending to chase the series, Beaugrand pulled it off with grace and dominance.

Here’s how the day unfolded.

WTCS Grand Final Pontevedra Race Recap

Tilly Anema led out of the swim, with Bianca Seregni in second. Beaugrand exited the water 27 seconds down, with Beth Potter, our second pick for the day in our pre-race preview, 29 seconds back. Tilda Månsson was 1:16 down heading into T1.

The nine-lap bike course started with a lead pack of 16 athletes on lap one, with many of the big names in the mix: Georgia Taylor-Brown pushing the pace, something she had said she wanted to do, along with Taylor Spivey, Kate Waugh, Beaugrand, Kirsten Kasper, Lisa Tertsch, Potter and Jolien Vermeylen. Jeanne Lehair was 14 seconds back.

There was one crash when Roksana Slupek, who had been taking in nutrition, went to put her bottle back and clipped the wheel of Laura Lindemann. Lindemann veered into Sophie Evans, with both athletes crashing. Spivey also suffered a bike mechanical, becoming stuck in one gear and causing her to fall back.

After an aggressively paced ride that saw several athletes dropped, nine came into T2 together. Taylor-Brown was first out of transition, followed by Beaugrand, Waugh, Potter, Márta Kropkó, Lindemann and Kasper.

Over the course of the run, Beaugrand, known for her running prowess and record-setting performances, gradually began to pull away and establish a dominant lead. At the start of lap two of the three-loop run course, Taylor-Brown was 21 seconds down, followed by Kropkó and Waugh. Potter was approximately 33 seconds back, not having the kind of run we would normally expect from her.

By the bell lap, Beaugrand was 43 seconds ahead of Taylor-Brown and went on to take an incredibly emotional win, thanking her whole team at the finish line after completing a perfect season.

Her training partner Taylor-Brown took an impressive second place, earning an unexpected top-three finish in the overall standings, while Waugh rounded out the Pontevedra podium in third.

Kropkó crossed the line in fourth following a sprint finish after serving a penalty, but was subsequently disqualified for mounting her bike before the mount line.

Our congratulations to Beaugrand on a remarkable year that included four French running records across 2025 and 2026, five wins from five WTCS starts in 2026 to secure the world title, and a Supertri victory as well.

What a year.