A duel of Olympic medallists, the comeback of a World Cup winner, and an unbelievable new national record for one of triathlon’s biggest stars. Wherever you looked there were major headlines at the weekend. Find out all that happened below in this week’s Monday Morning Mix.
T100 Spain
It felt like a corner had been turned when Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) won a maiden medal, a silver, at the T100 Final in Qatar back in December. So it has proved with the Olympic medallist going on to open her 2026 campaign with a World Cup silver in Lanzarote, a confident breakaway at WTCS Samarkand, and now this: a first international win since 2023 and her first on the T100 scene.
Taylor-Brown was in the pack that followed Sara Perez Sala (ESP) out of the water. Olympic silver medallist Julie Derron (SUI) then took over on the bike before her compatriot Alanis Siffert came flying through to take the lead into T2. Siffert had been down in 16th place out of the water, making this an awesome display of power on two wheels. Taylor-Brown, meanwhile, remained in contact with the Swiss pair. Once she hit the front on the run, there was no looking back.
Silver went to Derron while Taylor Spivey (USA) ran through with the third fastest run of the day (faster even than the gold and silver medallists) to earn her first ever T100 podium. View the full results here.
Asia Cup Lianyungang
It was like he had never been away. The last time we saw Dylan McCullough (NZL) race internationally, he was pummelling a helpless Tongyeong World Cup field in a two-man breakaway that saw him claim a first World Cup win in utterly dominant fashion. That was 19 months ago.
Eager to make up for lost time, the New Zealander marked his return to elite racing with another win, this time at the Asia Cup level. McCullough’s victory in China bore all the same hallmarks of his Tongyeong win; he led the sprint distance swim (8:26) before ripping the fastest bike split of the day (31:12). He therefore entered T2 alone. However, his injury-induced lack of racing would tell on the run.
The field came back at him, with Xirui Zhang (CHN) leading the way. The home talent ate up 40 seconds into McCullough’s lead and might well have had him with another kilometre. But it was not to be as McCullough held on to win by 10 seconds. Semen Kashitsyn (AIN) claimed the bronze medal, 7 seconds behind Zhang.
Over in the women’s race, Yifan Yang (CHN) set the tempo in the swim and very nearly engineered a similar breakaway to McCullough. A lead group of thirteen women would ultimately form around the swimming speedster.
The number of contenders for the win then halved on the run, with a group of six duking it out. Joining Yang at the head of the race were Miyu Sakai (JPN), Hollie Elliott (IRL), Sophie Gießmann (GER), Sinem Francisca Tous Servera (TUR) and Martina Ayu Pratiwi (INA). In the final stages, Tous and Pratiwi pulled clear and the Turkish athlete’s experience saw her cross the line first by 2 seconds. Gießmann then out-kicked Elliott to seal the bronze medal. View the full results here.
Europe Cup Olsztyn
Jaspar Ortfeld (GER) improved upon his recent bronze medal at the Torremolinos Europe Cup with a win in Poland after coming through a nervy finale against British (and soon-to-be formerly British) opposition.
Antoine Duval (FRA) and Pao Millo (FRA) led the swim with a British cohort including World Junior Championships silver medallist Alex Robin and Solomon Okrafo-Smart in their wake. Ben Dijkstra (TRI), who is switching his sporting nationality from Britain to the Netherlands, was also in the mix.
With little to meaningfully shake up the field on the bike, it came down to the run. Ortfeld, Dijkstra and Okrafo-Smart distinguished themselves as the swiftest on the day, but none quite broke clear. That was until Ortfeld, with the blue carpet in sight, dropped the hammer with a huge late surge to take the win. Okrafo-Smart then fended off Dijkstra to snatch the silver, 3 seconds later.
In the women’s race, 3 seconds were likewise all that separated gold from silver as Nora Gmür (SUI) and María Casals Mojica (SUI) battled it out. The early pace set by Isabella Hayes (GBR) and Rachel Werking (USA) stretched the field but not to an irrevocable degree. Gmür had a similar start to Ortfeld as exiting the water around 30th proved no obstacle to making the large main pack.
Former World Junior and European Junior champion Jule Behrens (GER) was the top cyclist of the day and rode the front with Gmür. Also at the front were Casals’ teammates Alejandra Seguí Soria and Ana Carballo Gómez.
On the run, though, Gmür and Casals separated themselves, with Carballo losing position and time on the ride into T2 and transition itself. Her field-leading 16:36 5km run was not enough to overhaul the leaders and she settled for bronze, 7 seconds behind the winner. Ahead, Casals fought hard, but in the end she had no answer to Gmür’s rapid sprint as the Swiss athlete recorded the first international win of her career. View the full results here.
Europe Junior Cup Olsztyn
Further Swiss success came in the junior events in Olsztyn, with Thibaut Rivier (SUI) headlining the men’s race. A field-best 15:01 5km run split proved the difference, but Rivier certainly left it late. Although he had a strong swim, his bike split put him towards the back of the front pack. At the same time, Kacper Serwiński (POL) was among a bunch to charge out of T2 into the lead.
Rivier faced a 15 second deficit to Serwiński but just about closed the gap to win by 1 second in a finish that left pulses racing, and not just for those on the blue carpet. Serwiński took a consolation silver while bronze went to Dominik Ivančík (SVK).
After a win at the Quarteira Europe Junior Cup and a maiden senior medal at the Torremolinos Europe Cup, Anouk Danna (SUI) arrived in Olsztyn as the favourite in the junior women’s race. She duly delivered a romping victory. Her field-leading 32:04 bike split over 20km helped to establish a five-athlete breakaway that dominated the race.
Teammate Kimey Casanova was in this quintet, as was Hanna Månsson (SWE), the younger sister of the recent WTCS Yokohama winner, Tilda Månsson. Neither Casanova nor Månsson, however, could cope with Danna’s electric speed on the run. Her time of 16:16 was unsurprisingly the best of the day and ensured she won by a round 60 seconds. Casanova continued the Swiss joy by bringing home the silver medal and Månsson then claimed a maiden international medal in 3rd place. View the full results here.
Around the world
By now, you may have heard of Cassandre Beaugrand’s latest French record: the stunning 14:40.77 she clocked over the 5000m on the track. This builds upon the 10km French record she set earlier this year and, at the time of writing, stands as the 13th fastest time in the world this year. We can only imagine what she has in store for us at WTCS Alghero this weekend.