WTCS Yokohama 2025: Full Schedule, Preview & How to Watch

This Saturday, May 17, marks the return of the 2025 World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS), which will make its famous stop in Yokohama, Japan. This will be the 15th time the WTCS has visited the city, but the first since 2023.

High-stakes racing is promised at Yokohama, the season’s second event after the Abu Dhabi opener, with 1000 points up for grabs for the victors. World champions, Olympic medallists, and up-and-coming talents are all competing for early-season dominance on the premier fields.

Discover the schedule, the best athletes to watch, and how to watch the WTCS Yokohama by reading on.

In 2024, Cassandre Beaugrand of France arrives in Yokohama as the current Olympic and world champion. Beaugrand is one of only four individuals to have won individual gold in both competitions in the same year, along with Alex Yee, Flora Duffy, and Kristian Blummenfelt.

Having said that, the Paris 2024 winner needs to improve her WTCS title defense after missing the Abu Dhabi series opener, which Lisa Tertsch won to start a German podium sweep.

In Abu Dhabi, Tertsch, a member of the German mixed relay team that took home the gold in Paris, narrowly defeated fellow countrywoman Nina Eim by a single second, with Olympic teammate Laura Lindemann trailing by two seconds. Compatriots Annika Koch, Tanja Neubert, and Selina Klamt accompany Tertsch and Lindemann to the race in Yokohama.

Despite this, Beaugrand seems to be in excellent form after winning the Supertri E World Triathlon Championship in April and the Indoor Triathlon World Cup (Lievin) in March.

For Saturday’s celebrations in Japan, the world No. 1 is accompanied by her countrywoman and reigning Yokohama champion Léonie Périault.

Another strong candidate is Beth Potter of Great Britain, the 2023 world champion and two-time Olympic bronze winner. Interestingly, since May 2023, she has been among the few competitors to overcome Beaugrand in a standard distance triathlon. Potter will undoubtedly be keen to improve that this time around since Yokohama is still one of the few WTCS locations where she has not yet finished on the podium.

Race for men: Yee and Wilde’s absence allows for competitors

Hayden Wilde’s horrific bike accident in Tokyo last weekend has forced the WTCS leader to miss the men’s competition in Yokohama.

A bike accident in the Japanese capital damaged the collarbone and multiple ribs of New Zealand’s two-time Olympic triathlon medallist, who had won the first leg of the series in Abu Dhabi. Prior to the collision on Saturday, he had placed seventh in the 10-kilometer Tokyo Speed Race.

“Broken 4 ribs. Scapular broken. Injured lungs. Surrounded with the best help. Keep you posted. Pretty gutted after such a nice day yesterday,” Wilde wrote in a social media post that included a photo of himself taken from his hospital bed.

This week, the 27-year-old was scheduled to have surgery in Belgium, and it appears that he will not be able to win a world title this season after only taking home one silver and two bronze in the previous three years.

Reigning world champion and Paris 2024 competitor Alex Yee is another well-known figure absent from the starting lineup. Yee finished 14th in the men’s elite London Marathon race in two hours, eleven minutes, and eight seconds on his debut.

The remainder of the field now has a fantastic opportunity to take over the rankings since Yee and Wilde are no longer competing.

Not to be overlooked are Paris 2024 bronze medallist Léo Bergère and defending Yokohama champion Morgan Pearson, who was a member of the USA mixed relay squad that won silver at the Games last summer. Australia’s Matt Hauser, who finished second in Abu Dhabi, and Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca, who finished third there, are the favorites to win.