Alex Yee wins Weihai World Triathlon race and heads to Grand Final as title leader

Olympic gold medallist Alex will head to the Grand Final in Spain next month as the series leader after a powerful performance at the first-ever World Triathlon Championship Series race to be held in Weihai, China.

The penultimate race of the five-event series (the first event in Abu Dhabi was cancelled due to adverse weather) was an unknown for many on the start line, but the Olympic-distance course proved universally popular thanks to its challenging and tactical bike leg.

Here’s how it played out…

What happened in the men’s race?

Australia’s Matt Hauser once again showed his dominance in the water, being the first to hit the beach both on the first lap and then on the swim exit towards transition. But Yee was only eight seconds back after a great swim, giving him easy access to the front bike pack.

Olympic silver medallist Hayden Wilde was 16 seconds behind Hauser and was the last athlete to make it to the front group that would head up the first of eight climbs.

But the bike course’s technicality soon had casualties – Hauser first, and half a lap later, Pierre Le Corre and Wilde, much to the surprise of the front group, who kept looking behind them checking who was with them.

Halfway through the 40km bike, Yee put his head down, and the gap to Wilde’s group increased to 90secs by T2, as the chase group struggled to get organised taking turns pulling on the climbs.

At the start of the 10k run, it only took a few seconds for Paris champion Yee to take the lead, finding some clear daylight between himself and Paris bronze medallist Léo Bergere.

Yee crossed the tape with the fastest split of the day – a 29:40 – almost a minute ahead of Bergere in second and Miguel Hidalgo (MEX) in third, which was the best result of the Mexican’s career so far and the first time ever on a WTCS podium.

Yee’s victory now puts him in a golden spot for the Championship Finals in Torremolinos in October, leading the Series rankings with just one race to go (a position he was also in this time last year before a disastrous race saw him finish 29th and fifth overall).

Alex Yee quotes from Weihai WTCS 2024

“That was a triathlon for sure!” beamed Yee afterwards. “I just wanted to come back and have fun, the last few weeks have been so chaotic and being on that course with these guys on this course, I couldn’t ask for much more, that was a race to be proud of.

“This format is what I love doing. I’ve grown up inspired by the likes of Vince [Vincent Luis], Mario (Mola), Alistair and Jonny [Brownlee]… and I wanted to be just like them and that’s what I aspire to do. I’m absolutely loving it. For me, this is the racing I’ve had a passion for.

“(The swim) has been a long-term project,” added Yee. “I’ve been working towards getting to that point where I can call myself a complete triathlete and I feel I’m getting close to that, and it’s kudos to everyone back home in my corner who has put so much into it.

“This was a standalone race, Torremolinos will be the same. The hard work had been done before the Olympics, now I’m just going to have fun and give everyone a show.”

Top 10 men’s results – Weihai WTCS

1 Alex Yee, GBR 1:48:21
2 Léo Bergere, FRA 1:49:07
3 Miguel Hidalgo, BRA 1:49:18
4 Alberto Gonzalez Garcia, ESP 1:49:47
5 Vincent Luis, FRA 1:49:52
6 Luke Willian, AUS 1:49:58
7 Hayden Wilde, NZL 1:50:01
8 Dylan McCullough, NZL 1:50:03
9 Jack Willis, GBR 1:50:18
10 Pierre Le Corre, FRA 1:50:42