Diana Isakova and Miguel Hidalgo end the WTCS season on a high in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi was supposed to open the 2026 season last March. Postponed, the Sprint-distance race on Hudayriyat Island ended up hosting the final WTCS of the year. In the women's race, Russia's Diana Isakova closed her season on a roll, taking the first WTCS win of her career. Brazil's Miguel Hidalgo won the men's race.

Brazil's Miguel Hidalgo is back on top of a WTCS podium, and just in time. Breaking away from Australia's Matt Hauser, he took the second World Series win of his career in Abu Dhabi, at the last round of the World Triathlon Championship Series ever (skipped by the French), ahead of the launch of the Triathlon World Tour in 2027.

Both men were part of an eleven-strong lead group that held off a four-man chase group pushing hard behind. Among the chasers, New Zealand's Hayden Wilde had a blistering T2 and went past everyone except the two leaders. He took bronze, then headed to Dubai to race the T100 tomorrow, Saturday.

It's been a disappointing season, so coming back with a win is incredible. In 2026 I made a lot of mistakes in my preparation. So I went back to basics for six weeks and it worked really well. I'm very proud of the work we've done. I felt good throughout the race. The swim was hard and the second group closed the gap a little, but that five-second lead was enough. I was happy to attack with 3 km to go and see that it worked.
Miguel Hidalgo2026 winner

Reigning world champion and wearing bib No. 1, Matt Hauser led the field out onto the pontoon before the start of the 750 m swim. The Australian quickly set about stretching the pack from the front to blunt the ambitions of rivals like Hayden Wilde and Spain's David Cantero, who were positioned further back in the group.

Italy's Alessio Crociani then took over at the front as the swim came to an end and the field split into two distinct groups. Dutchman Mitch Kolkman was right behind him, while Miguel Hidalgo bridged across on the bike. Matt Hauser and his fellow Australian Luke Willian were the first onto the five laps of the 20 km bike course.

An efficient chase pack on the bike

Hayden Wilde, Switzerland's Simon Westermann and Dutchman Ben Dijkstra were in a group sitting about forty seconds behind the leaders. The three worked well together, though, and quickly cut their deficit to the eleven front-runners in half.

Simon Westermann, Hayden Wilde, Israel's Shachar Sagiv and Spain's Antonio Serrat then managed to pull clear of that main chase group. Working well together, they got back to within about twenty seconds of the leaders. The group of David Cantero and South Africa's Henri Schoeman was a further 25 seconds back, and was almost a minute down by the end of the bike.

The four chasers kept eating into the gap and had it down to eight seconds heading into T2. Alessio Crociani waited until the last moment to surge and hit the transition zone first before heading out onto the 5 km run.

Miguel Hidalgo wins to cap a frustrating season

Matt Hauser immediately tucked in behind him, then moved to the front with Miguel Hidalgo. The pair hoped to put Hayden Wilde under pressure early. Behind them, Shachar Sagiv held on alongside the New Zealander in the fight for third. Britain's Max Stapley was close by, along with Mitch Kolkman and American Braxton Legg.

Up front, Miguel Hidalgo suddenly opened a gap on Matt Hauser. The lead kept growing before levelling off in the second half of the final lap. The Brazilian crossed the line 18 seconds clear, ending a season that had been frustrating by his usual standards. Matt Hauser took second, and Hayden Wilde rounded out the podium.

Men's top 5

1) Miguel Hidalgo (Brazil): 49:02

2) Matthew Hauser (Australia): 49:20

3) Hayden Wilde (New Zealand): 49:43

4) Ian Pennekamp (Netherlands): 49:54

5) Luke Willian (Australia): 49:54

Diana Isakova takes her first WTCS win

In the women's race, Russia's Diana Isakova closed out the World Triathlon Championship Series season with the first World Series win of her career on Friday in Abu Dhabi. The gold came less than a week after her victory at the Hong Kong World Cup.

Russia's top triathlete pulled away from Luxembourg's Jeanne Lehair, the only one of the nine riders in the bike breakaway able to stay on her heels over the final 5 km run of this sprint-distance race. Behind them, the evergreen American Gwen Jorgensen ran the fastest split of the day to take bronze, putting a US triathlete on a WTCS podium for the first time since the 2016 Grand Final.

No French women on the start line

Brazil's Vittoria Lopes and Britain's Sophie Evans quickly took control of the 750 m swim. Diana Isakova and Germany's Laura Lindemann were also at the front coming out of the water. Jeanne Lehair stayed in touch, but Spain's Ana Carballo led onto the bike, a 20 km course that is completely flat.

The nine leaders initially had a 13-second lead over the first four chasers. That grew to 30 seconds once the chase groups merged. New Zealand's Brea Roderick, Germany's Franka Rust and another Brazilian, Djenyfer Arnold tried to reignite the chase, towing a group of 17 that included German headliners Lisa Tertsch, the 2025 world champion, and Nina Eim.

But over the five bike laps, the gap only kept growing. By the time they reached T2, the nine leaders had 35 seconds in hand. Britain's Eve Whittaker, racing her first WTCS, led out onto the run, with Diana Isakova right behind. The two had a small gap on Jeanne Lehair, Italy's Angelica Prestia and Ana Carballo. Lisa Tertsch started the run 40 seconds down, along with Gwen Jorgensen and Nina Eim, among others, all determined to close the gap.

Another winning sprint for Diana Isakova

Around the first kilometer, Diana Isakova began to pull away from Whittaker and Prestia. Jeanne Lehair then closed in on the Russian, who had beaten her a week earlier in Hong Kong. At the bell for the last lap, Isakova had just two seconds on Lehair. Whittaker and Prestia were 15 and 20 seconds back respectively. Laura Lindemann and Ana Carballo had been caught by Gwen Jorgensen and Spain's Marta Pintanel and Sara Guerrero. Lisa Tertsch was still 42 seconds down and unable to close the gap.

Jeanne Lehair stayed with Isakova, then took the lead 1,000 m from the finish. Behind them, Gwen Jorgensen kept accelerating and worked her way up toward the podium places, about thirty seconds off the leaders.

As the front two neared the finishing stadium, Diana Isakova launched a decisive surge 300 m from the line. Jeanne Lehair had no answer. The Russian flew to her very first win on the WTCS circuit. The Luxembourger took second, while Gwen Jorgensen earned her first podium on the circuit since 2016, the year of her Olympic title in Rio. The Abu Dhabi race also gave triathletes valuable points in the push for Olympic qualification for Los Angeles.

Women's top 5

1) Diana Isakova (Russia): 55:55

2) Jeanne Lehair (Luxembourg): 55:58

3) Gwen Jorgensen (United States): 56:23

4) Laura Lindemann (Germany): 56:29

5) Lisa Tertsch (Germany): 56:31

Full results