Where many had counted on a direct duel between Hayden Wilde and Alex Yee, that scenario turned out to be totally unrealistic during the WTCS Grand Final in Torremolinos. Wilde took off early on the bike, along with four others, giving Yee no chance to catch up in a crucial phase of the race. In the end, Wilde decided the race in supreme fashion during the run.
During the swim, it was still Miguel Tiago Silva who led the field and returned to the beach first after 19:10 minutes. All the men then followed in a long line, but it was on the bike that something truly sensational happened; Léo Bergere, Tayler Reid, Simon Westermann, Vincent Luis and thus Wilde went on an adventure with five of them, grabbed just enough of a lead to force a decision and then saw their margin widen on the chasing pack.
Halfway through, that peloton, which included Yee, Vasco Vilaca and Morgan Pearson among others, was almost a minute behind, and once in T2, the five had actually increased their lead to 1:39 minutes already. For Wilde, that was simply a dream scenario.
Those who had still hoped for an exciting run were disappointed. Wilde was so strong that he did not give anyone the chance to run with him; Luis, Reid and Westermann did not even seem to try and Bergere was able to keep up for a few hundred meters before Wilde really got loose and thus also ran toward victory.
Wilde won the race in 1:42:22. Bergere was second in 1:43:24 and in the background, Yee had begun an amazing catch-up race while running. He devoured Luis, Reid and Westermann and finished third in 1:43:50.
