Vilaça wins the world title by finishing second as Beaugrand completes a perfect season
In Pontevedra, Matthew Hauser won the race but Portugal’s Vasco Vilaça took the crown. Cassandre Beaugrand won her fifth race from five to reclaim the women’s title, with Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown and Kate Waugh behind her.
Portugal’s Vasco Vilaça became world triathlon champion at the World Triathlon Championship Series Grand Final in Pontevedra, Spain, on the final weekend of September, without winning the race. France’s Cassandre Beaugrand reclaimed the women’s title with a win that completed an unbeaten season.
In the men’s race, Australia’s Matthew Hauser, the defending world champion, won a sprint finish against Vilaça after the two were given the same time of 1 hour 39 minutes 31 seconds. Britain’s Alex Yee was third, four seconds back, and Portugal’s Ricardo Batista fourth.
Second place was enough. By covering every move in the closing stages, TRI247 reported, Vilaça made sure the overall title was his. The world championship is decided on each athlete’s three best series results plus the Grand Final.
Beaugrand: five from five
The women’s race was never in doubt. Beaugrand, the Olympic champion in Paris, won by 1 minute 5 seconds from Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown, with another Briton, Kate Waugh, third, 1:31 behind.
It was Beaugrand’s fifth win in five Championship Series starts in 2026. It also completed a recovery from last season, when she arrived at the final as title favourite, did not finish, and watched Germany’s Lisa Tertsch take the world crown. In 2024, she won both the Olympic title and the world championship.
A season reshaped
The 2026 series ran over nine rounds, starting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on 14 April. A tenth event in Abu Dhabi, originally the season opener, was postponed because of the conflict in the Middle East and bad weather; it has been rescheduled for after the Grand Final and does not count towards the world titles.
For British triathlon, the Grand Final offered a mixed picture: two women on the podium and Yee, the Olympic champion in Paris, in the medals, but no world champion.
In the junior races on the same weekend, Hungary’s Fanni Szalai and Switzerland’s Thibault Rivier won the world titles, Rivier by two seconds from Portugal’s Dinis Ferreira.
