Hayden Wilde made it four victories out of four in the T100 this season as he ran out a clear-cut winner in Spain.
The New Zealander won the season opener in Singapore but then suffered shocking injuries after he was hit by a truck when riding in Japan.
But less than 100 days after that he roared to a sensational comeback victory at London T100 and then followed that up at T100 French Riviera.
This latest success came after reigning 70.3 World Champion Jelle Geens (BEL) had tried to throw down a challenge early on the run, all the more impressive as he had earlier suffered a crash on the bike.
Wilde was more than up to it though and he eased clear at the halfway point and crossed the line nearly two minutes in front of Geens, with Jonas Schomburg (GER) a sensational third just six days after he was sixth at the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice!
It all means Wilde now has the perfect score ahead of the T100 Grand Final in Qatar in December, with the points from that race added to an athlete’s best four results.
And this was a statement win too as there had been a bit of controversy after his French Riviera win when he ran in shoes that were not yet authorised for competition, something he had called “an honest mistake”.
Swim – Bunched start
There were good conditions for the two-lap swim and short course great Vincent Luis (FRA), making his return from injury, moved into the lead early on.
The Aussie exit was a quick turnaround and Sam Dickinson (GBR), third on his T100 debut last time out, nipped to the front but it was a long line behind with very little between them – apart from Pieter Heemeryck (BEL) and Fred Funk (GER) who were distanced in 18th and 19th respectively.
Onto the second lap and it was more of the same, with Dickinson, Luis and Schomburg all out of the water together in 24:43.
But just 16 seconds separated the top 15, with Wilde in 15th at that point.
Bike – Penalties, crashes and more drama
With the field so closely bunched after the swim and a narrow 1km stretch of road before we got onto the first of six laps, it was a chaotic start to the bike.
And early on there were drafting penalties handed out to both Rico Bogen (GER) and Kyle Smith (NZL), who would then suffer contrasting fortunes.
Things initially went from bad to worse for San Francisco T100 winner Bogen who had done brilliantly to get back up to near the front of the race only for a dropped chain to bring him to a halt for a second time.
Again though he would battle back into the mix, whereas Smith would gradually drop out of contention and would later be a DNF.
Another to be hit with a penalty was Luis for equipment outside the box at T1.
And it emerged in the post-race interviews (after it was somehow missed on the live broadcast) that Geens slid to the tarmac on the second lap which meant he had around 45 seconds to make up.
Meanwhile up front Mathis Margirier (FRA) opened up a lead on the bike only for cramping to see him slow right down which meant that Guillem Montiel Moreno (ESP), Wilde and a now-charging Geens were the new 1-2-3 with less than five seconds between them.
Remarkably Bogen – after his two mishaps – was a close-up fourth and Schomburg fifth, with Dickinson sixth and Margirier seventh – all of them within 15 seconds.
And that was largely how it stayed heading to the end of the bike, with more than two minutes back to the rest.
Run – Wilde a class apart
Things stretched out a little in transition – Geens was super quick and out first whereas Wilde lost a little ground.
And the gap was extended when Wilde did an about turn to go round an ambigously-placed sign the correct way, with a marshall later positioned there as a number of athletes were understandably confused by it.
It made no difference though as Wilde was right on Geens’ shoulder by the second of six run laps.
He bided his time for a while and the two traded the lead but approaching the halfway point was where Wilde started to ease clear.
And from that moment on it was race over, especially as the adrenaline from Geens’ bike crash was now starting to wear off in the searing Spanish sun.
A few seconds were soon up to nearly a minute and when the line came it was a fraction under two minutes between Wilde and Geens.
Schomburg somehow found a late burst of energy less than a week after a full IRONMAN to hold off Margirier to take third.
And Wilde’s win came on the day that his great rival Alex Yee, who pipped him to Olympic gold in Paris last summer, announced he’s going all-in on marathon running for the rest of the year.
Hayden Wilde wins Spain T100 2025 [Photo credit: PTO]
Spain T100 results – Pro men
Saturday September 20, 2025 – 2km/80km/18km
PositionAthleteSwim timeBike timeRun timeOverall time1Hayden Wilde (NZL)24:581:46:1955:583:09:012Jelle Geens (BEL)24:471:46:2558:373:11:263Jonas Schomburg (GER)24:431:46:4258:463:12:034Mathis Margirier (FRA)24:511:46:2958:583:12:135Sam Dickinson (GBR)24:431:46:2959:533:12:486Guillem Montiel Moreno (ESP)24:521:46:2859:373:13:087Youri Keulen (NED)24:491:50:0056:263:13:128Menno Koolhaas (NED)24:461:50:4657:563:15:259Gregory Barnaby (ITA)24:511:50:0059:143:16:0510Rico Bogen (GER)24:441:46:101:06:023:18:51
Latest overall standings (best four races plus Grand Final in Qatar count):
PositionAthleteTotal pointsCounting races1Hayden Wilde140From best 4 / 5 scores2Jelle Geens122From best 4 / 5 scores3Rico Bogen93From best 4 / 5 scores4Mika Noodt93From best 4 / 5 scores5Mathis Margirier82From best 4 / 5 scores6Marten Van Riel73From best 3 / 5 scores7Youri Keulen71From best 4 / 5 scores8Gregory Barnaby60From best 4 / 5 scores9Antonio Benito Lopez59From best 4 / 5 scores10Menno Koolhaas58From best 4 / 5 scores