Men’s Professional Race: Hayden Wilde Chases Perfection
There’s dominance – and then there’s Hayden Wilde. The Kiwi star has now won all four of his T100 World Tour appearances this season, adding Spain to his growing list after earlier victories in Singapore, London, and the French Riviera. What separates Wilde isn’t just his speed – it’s the way he races with conviction, patience, and now, a kind of inevitability.
Wilde’s win in Oropesa del Mar wasn’t about early fireworks; it was about control. Despite exiting the swim in a massive front group of 15 men, he never panicked. He stayed close to the front on the bike, entering T2 just one second behind leader Rico Bogen.
The early stages of the run saw Jelle Geens leading with Wilde close behind. Around the 5km mark, Wilde hit what he called the “back burners,” dropped Geens, and never looked back, ultimately finishing 2:25 ahead. Jonas Schomberg, racing just one week after the Ironman World Championship in Nice, impressively claimed the final podium spot, 3:02 back.
As Geens wrote on Instagram after the race: “Tried but died.”
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Wilde now stands alone as the first athlete to win four T100 races in a single season, and the only athlete to win every T100 he has ever entered. Even with a perfect score heading into the World Championship Final in Qatar, Wilde says he still plans to race Wollongong and Dubai to chase something even bigger: a 7-for-7 season.
There’s bravado in that – but more so, there’s belief. Wilde isn’t just winning; he’s building a legacy.
Women’s Professional Race: Lucy Charles-Barclay’s Momentum Builds
For Lucy Charles-Barclay, the win in Spain wasn’t just another result. It was confirmation that she’s exactly where she needs to be just three weeks out from defending her Kona crown.
This was Charles-Barclay at her best: leading the swim, sharing turns on the bike, and running with calm authority. By T2, she and Kate Waugh had broken away from the field. With about 7km to go, Charles-Barclay began to pull clear and never looked back.
Her final margin over Waugh – 2 minutes – underscored her dominance. With back-to-back T100 wins (London and now Spain), she becomes the first female athlete to win more than one T100 event this season. More importantly, her form appears to be peaking at the perfect time.
Jess Learmonth held strong for third, while Ash Gentle, who exited T2 in 12th and more than six minutes down, ran her way to fourth with the fastest run split of the day (1:03:32). But this day belonged to Charles-Barclay.
Her coach, Dan Lorang, posted on Instagram that the goal in Spain was to “have fun.” Judging by the finish line – her smile beaming as she raised the tape – she nailed that too.
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(@danlorang)The post Hayden Wilde 4 for 4 – Can He Go 7 for 7? appeared first on Triathlon Magazine Canada.