Hayden Wilde, Jelle Geens, Lasse Priester and Sam Dickinson line up for the French Riviera T100 on Saturday, September 19

Just over 60 kilometres separate Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes from Fréjus-Saint-Raphaël in the Var. So, one week after the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice, it was hard to resist the short trip to the heart of the Esterel for the third stop of the T100 Triathlon World Tour, a men-only series.

Several members of Nice’s top 10 will be back in the fight for the win, the podium and the minor places, just six days after that fierce showdown. They will no doubt be hoping to benefit from supercompensation and hit peak form, with most of the week devoted to recovery.

Reigning IRONMAN 70.3 world champion Hayden Wilde, and current leader of the 2026 T100 standings, will return to Fréjus, where he won last year. He will be joined by Belgian Jelle Geens, third in Nice, as well as German Lasse Nygaard Priester, fifth on the Promenade des Anglais, British Sam Dickinson, ninth at the 2026 Worlds, and German Rico Bogen, who finished 17th in Nice after a huge performance on the bike. Fifth in Fréjus last year, Bogen made his mark early in the season over the T100 distance, winning in San Francisco in April 2026 after 2 km of swimming, 80 km on the bike and an 18 km run.

© ©That Cameraman/T100

© ©That Cameraman/T100

© ©That Cameraman/T100

© ©That Cameraman/T100

© ©That Cameraman/T100

© ©That Cameraman/T100

© ©That Cameraman/T100

There will be no French athlete on the start line this year. Mathis Margirier, the most consistent French presence on the circuit and fourth in Fréjus last year, is set to miss the race. After finishing eighth at the T100 Singapore earlier in the season, the Ardèche native has endured a blank season, missing T100 San Francisco, IRONMAN 70.3 Pays d’Aix and IRONMAN Frankfurt because of inflammation in his foot. The injury bothers him when he runs and prevents him from racing at 100%.

Among the 20 elite triathletes on the start list, Australian Jake Birtwhistle, second in the provisional 2026 T100 standings, should be fresher than his rivals. His last race was in July, when he finished second at the Airlie Beach Triathlon in Australia. The Valence Triathlon athlete had enjoyed a prolific season before that, taking fourth at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong, sixth at T100 San Francisco and the win at IRONMAN 70.3 Western Sydney. The soon-to-be father will arrive in France brimming with confidence and could shake up the pecking order on a fast course running along the Esterel’s red-rock coastline.

Another potential spoiler is Dutchman Youri Keulen. He has shown that the T100 distance suits him perfectly, winning T100 Singapore in 2024 and finishing third at T100 Australia last year. His 2026 season has started brilliantly, with seventh place at T100 Singapore in April, runner-up at IRONMAN Brazil in May and another second place at IRONMAN 70.3 Vitoria-Gasteiz in July.

© James MItchell/T100

Live coverage begins at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 19, with the race starting at 8:05 a.m.

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