Australia's Matt Hauser finally bagged his first World Triathlon win at the sprint-distance Montreal race today.
Joining the Australian on the podium was Brazils's Manoel Messias in second and Belgium's Jelle Geens in third.
Who was racing in Montreal?
Many of the series' current top crop had chosen to sit the Canadian fourth-round out, so the field was sadly missing the likes of Alex Yee (winner of Abu Dhabi and Cagliari) , Hayden Wilde (Yokohama winner), the series' leader after three rounds Dorian Coninx and third-placed, and reigning world champ, Léo Bergere.
In fact the only athlete racing who was sat in the rankings’ top five pre-race was Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca.
There were some big-ticket names on the start line, however, including Norwegian duo powerhouses Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt and triple Olympic medallist Jonny Brownlee, who was hoping to find some much-needed WTCS form after a 34th-place finish in Cagliari.
What happened in the swim?
Yokohama runner-up Hauser was first out of Alexandra Basin in Montreal’s Old Port after 8:02mins.
Brownlee had a toughish swim to head out in 17th place, 12secs down on Hauser. Blummenfelt, meanwhile, was over 30secs down, meaning he missed the front pack.
The run to transition is almost 400m so many athletes can make up time out of the water, which often leads to a large front pack at the start of the bike… as happened today.
What happened on the bike?
A group of approx. 20 men had formed the lead group by the end of the first lap of the six-lap 20km bike course.
Iden and Blummenfelt were both in the chase group some 30secs down by lap two, but had reduced that by 10secs by the end of the same lap.
Halfway through and Belgium's Marten Van Riel was making his second attempt to break away, but no one was keen to partake, instead trading places at the helm with the usual faces – namely Brownlee.
With two laps to go, several groups had merged to form one large group of 36 athletes, with just 12secs separating the front riders from the back.
On the final lap, Blummenfelt, Brownlee and Hauser positioned themselves up front, ready for T2 and the race-deciding 5k.
Vilaca, following a spill towards the end of the bike leg, trailed in behind the lead group.
What happened on the run?
Spain's Roberto Sanchez Mantecon led the field out but it was Hauser who controlled the pace for the first half of lap one of two on the final 5km run.
Belgium's Jelle Geens was was also keeping in contention, as was Blummenfelt, but Brownlee soon dropped down the pecking order, unable to stay with the leaders.
By the end of lap one, the top three were Blummenfelt, Geens and Hauser.
But on the second lap, Hauser kicked with Brazil's Manoel Messias (third in Abu Dhabi) in second and Blummenfelt fighting for the final podium place with Germany's Tim Hellwig and Geens.
But it was Hauser who crossed the line for his first World Triathlon win; Messias also having his best World Triathlon finish with silver; and Geens the final podium spot.
Hellwig took fourth, Blummenfelt fifth, Brownlee 17th.
Vilaca, despite finishing down in 30th, now leads the World Triathlon Series' standings ahead of Coninx and Bergere.
World Triathlon Montreal 2023 – Men's Top 10
1. Matthew Hauser, AUS 53:47
2. Manoel Messias, BRA53:58
3. Jelle Geens, BEL 54:02
4. Tim Hellwig, GER 54:03
5. Kristian Blummenfelt, NOR 54:05
6. Bence Bicsák, HUN 54:07
7. Charles Paquet, CAN 54:10
8. Roberto Sanchez Mantecon, ESP 54:15
9. Marten Van Riel, BEL 54:18
10. Kenji Nener, JPN 54:19
Top image credit: World Triathlon
