Hayden Wilde doubles up with another French Riviera T100 Triathlon win

The Mediterranean provided the backdrop for the 2 km swim at the Ekoï French Riviera T100 Triathlon. Great Britain’s Sam Dickinson immediately took control, setting a hard pace before Germany’s Fabian Kraft moved to the front and led the group out of the water as they began the final lap. Dickinson was still first out of the sea, but the Netherlands’ Menno Koolhaas made the fastest transition, followed by New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde.

Germany’s Rico Bogen and New Zealand’s Kyle Smith quickly took control of the 80 km bike course. The small group later grew by three as Wilde, Dickinson and Belgium’s Jelle Geens, bridged across to form a formidable five-man breakaway.

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On the final bike lap, Bogen received a drafting penalty, which was eventually overturned two kilometres before the second transition. The German surged over the final five kilometres to open a 22-second gap on Wilde entering T2, and began the run 20 seconds ahead of Geens.

Saint-Raphaël hosted a spectacular 18 km run course along the coast, made up of six laps. Smith and Geens quickly caught, passed and dropped Bogen, who, just like last week in Nice, cracked on the run and would eventually finish 13th. Wilde joined the two leaders on the second of six laps to form the provisional podium.

Geens was dropped from the leading trio on the fourth lap, before Wilde made his move and shook off compatriot Smith on the penultimate lap. Smith fought all the way to the finish, despite colliding with a bus during training the day before, but Geens refused to give up. The Belgian finally caught the New Zealander in the final kilometre to snatch the silver, while Wilde claimed gold for his second win at the event in as many editions. It was also his second victory on French soil in six days, following his IRONMAN 70.3 world title in Nice last Sunday. The 2026 podium was decided by just 24 seconds, underlining the depth of a field featuring only 20 hand-picked triathletes.

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Kyle and Rico went off the front, so I had to put in a big effort on the bike. Unfortunately, my power meter wasn’t working, so I was riding blind. I had to spend a few tokens on that one. On the run, I just had to stay focused. Jelle obviously had a good lead on me at the start, so I had to run at my own pace. I eventually managed to catch him.

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This distance suits me well. I’ve finished second several times, and very often behind Hayden. I like it here in Saint-Raphaël. It’s a great race and I’m happy to be back on the podium. With one lap to go, I thought, “OK, I’m going to try one more time.” At the start of the final lap, I began to push harder and saw Kyle getting bigger and bigger up ahead. I was also hearing the time gaps: 30 seconds, then 20, before it dropped to 15 seconds at the turnaround. My stomach was really taking a beating at that pace. But I knew I had to catch him, then wait for the sprint. That was my strategy.

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I’m incredibly happy with third place. Four months ago, I was in hospital dealing with intestinal problems and, honestly, I was probably thinking about retirement because I didn’t think I’d ever be able to return to this level. I was in such poor physical condition. But I was able to do it thanks to my friends and the people around me who really supported me, especially Hayden, actually.

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The result extends Hayden Wilde’s lead in the T100 standings over Australia’s Jake Birtwhistle and Germany’s Lasse Priester, who finished fourth and fifth in Fréjus today.

The next men’s race will be the Saudi Arabia T100 Triathlon on 27 November. The women will return to competition on 14 November at the Dubai T100.