#129 THE 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP SHOWDOWN SHOW!

Will McCloy and Belinda Granger are back on the pod with Doug Gray for the all-encompassing 2026 World Triathlon Championship Finals Pontevedra Preview Show! After a quick spin over the Karlovy Vary Demolition Derby, it's all eyes on Spain, where this year's Finals will open on 23 September, before four days of racing culminating in the women's and men's world championship showdowns on 26th and 27th. Can Vasco Vilaça deliver his destiny with a first world title? Will Cass Beaugrand succeed where she couldn't in 2023 when Beth Potter pipped her to the crown? Just what drama does the the Grand Final have in store for us this time around?! There is always something that spills out of the pressure pot of a champ finals, it's just a matter of what, when and how big. See you out there!All races available live and on demand on www.triathlonlive.ioAll the Jr/U23 and Para racing including the relays will also be available to watch live on www.youtube.com/worldtriathlon Good luck in Celebrity Masterchef Lauren Steadman! (not Bake Off, sorry!)

It was quite the weekend of racing at the World Triathlon Championship Series Weihai to close out August and lead us into an almighty September that will decide our 2026 World Champions. Cassandre Beaugrand hit the perfect score with a fourth straight gold, Matt Hauser hit the deck and finished 10th, and the men's world title is now firmly in Vasco Vilaça's hands. TriathlonLive's crack commentary duo Will McCloy and Belinda Granger join Doug Gray to pick through the racing and look ahead to WTCS Karlovy Vary on 13 September. Watch it all unfold on TriathlonLive.io from 10am local time. And for anyone who doesn't value their ears, here's the link to an amateur butchering a DJ mix 12 years ago, as digressed to halfway through a discussion about Chinese names...

Dialling in this week from an August altitude camp in Font Romeu is Alberto Gonzalez. One of the few men who has been able to push Matt Hauser and Vasco Vilaça all the way so far in 2026, a late penalty robbed the Spaniard of a big finish and potential medal at WTCS London. Fifth place was still a huge result for the 28-year-old as he builds the best season of his career, and the man known as Speedy Gonzalez heads to Weihai still gunning for that first WTCS podium, plus a real chance to help his training partner Vilaça slow Hauser's charge up the rankings with a massive race in China! You can watch all the action from WTCS Weihai on 29 August on TriathlonLive.io

The penultimate stop of the regular 2026 World Triathlon Championship Series heads to Weihai, China on 29 September, with two very high profile names chasing the wins that would give them the perfect 4000 points score going into the decisive Pontevedra Championship Finals. So will it be mission accomplished for Matt Hauser and Cassandre Beaugrand or can Beth Potter and Lisa Tertsch, Alberto Gonzalez and Csongor Lehmann slow their rivals' seemingly unstoppable progress? The build up begins here in the company of our very own WTCS commentary duo Will McCloy and Belinda Granger!

The WTCS Hamburg weekend cooked up plenty of thrills and spills across the Championship Series, Para Series and Mixed Relay World Championships action. In this episode we go back into the mix, from pre-race penalties to unexplained pull-outs, transition crashes to super-sprint thrashes, as well as previewing the WTCS London on 25 July and saluting an all-time great as Flora Duffy announces her retirement.

With this weekend marking 25 years of top-tier triathlon action in Hamburg, the podcast welcomes back Will McCloy and World Triathlon's Kris Gemmell - themselves no strangers to the dangers of the infamous swim tunnel of despair - to preview the fifth stop of the 2026 Series and Mixed Team Relay World Championships. Unique insight, attempts at foresight, and a little friendly bite, it's the one-stop-shop for all your Hamburg preview needs before the action gets underway from 1.15pm CET on 11 July on TriathlonLive!

We take a spin through all the action from the WTCS Quiberon weekend, where Dorian Coninx's win couldn't stop Vasco Vilaça's stranglehold on the Series getting a little tighter and Cassandre Beaugrand made it four from four on home soil before the Mixed Relay took charge in fine style on the Sunday. From course question marks to the moto drafting drama and what is next for Alex Yee, the return of Tilda Mansson, rise and rise of Jolien Vermeylen and much more, it's all here on the World Triathlon Podcast as we continue the march through the 2026 Championship Series and look ahead to Tiszy!

We recap an action-packed weekend of Huatulco World Cup and European Championship Tarragona racing, and look ahead to the fourth stop of the 2026 World Triathlon Championship Series in Quiberon, where Cassandre Beaugrand headlines a home race, Alex Yee tries to reel in men's leader Vasco Vilaça, and the first Serie Mixed Team Relay takes over on Sunday.You can watch all the WTCS Quiberon action with a Race Pass on TriathlonLive.tv

Ahh Sardinia. Home of some high triathlon drama over the years, and the third stop of the 2026 World Triathlon Championship Series lived up to that reputation every which way at the end of May. Will McCloy and Belinda Granger join Doug Gray to pour through the racing and what impact it all has on the world title chase, with some big guns like Matt Hauser and Alex Yee mis-firing and Cassandre Beaugrand sending out a chilling message to her title rivals!Watch all the action back on TriathlonLive.tv

After another yahoo in Yokohama, the team sets its sights on WTCS Alghero, where the mouthwatering prospect of Matt Hauser, Alex Yee, Hayden Wilde, Vasco Vilaça and countless others will go toe-to-toe for the first time this year. Series commentator Belinda Granger and World Triathlon's Kris Gemmell give their reflections on the brilliance and guts of young Tilda Mansson's sprint finish against Beth Potter, and the rise of Australia and the art of the breakaway. Tune in to TriathlonLive.tv for guaranteed fireworks in Alghero from 11am CEST on 30 May!