Potter entered the final WTCS race ranked second overall, knowing that a win in Spain would crown her the world champion. The 31-year-old from Scotland trailed series leader Cassandre Beaugrand of France and had her work cut out for her to earn the title. In addition to the WTCS championship, a win would earn Potter a coveted spot at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Facing a tough field of 60 of the top women in triathlon, Potter completed the 1.5km swim about 16 seconds behind the lead group. Going through the first transition, she hopped on her Factor race bike with a CADEX 50 Ultra WheelSystem to try and close the gap on the 40km bike leg. She worked her way into a lead group of about 15 athletes.
“I wasn’t actually feeling too good on the swim and bike today so I had to work quite hard,” Potter said. “I really backed myself and focused on all my training.”
Going through the second transition, it looked like it would come down to a battle between Potter and Beaugrand, both in the lead group. Potter paired up with fellow Brit Kate Waugh, and the two worked up a lead over the four-lap, 10km run. Potter made her move on the last lap to surge ahead and take the win by 18 seconds over Waugh. Beaugrand finished third, 31 seconds back, followed by another CADEX athlete, Lisa Tertsch of Germany.
“I felt really good on the run,” Potter said after the win. “It was really nice to run with my teammate [Waugh] and see her get her first Series medal [bronze]. That was the goal, winning the World Championships. I was very determined. I am not surprised, but it’s been tough.”
Already an Olympian in track and field, Potter earned her trip to Paris as an Olympic triathlete six years after she made the transition to a new sport. She started this season with her first-ever WTCS victory and closed it out with another big win under pressure.
“It’s been a year of growing my confidence and I’ve had lots of different scenarios with racing and trying to win from different scenarios,” said Potter, who also scored a big win at the Paris Test Event Triathon last month. “That’s going to fuel me for a solid winter ahead of the Olympic Games next year. I’m over the moon, and to do it in another sport is really special.”
CADEX Men
In the men’s competition, Mislawchuk and Blummenfelt, both riding with CADEX WheelSystems, finished 9th and 18th respectively. The top-10 for Mislawchuk was his second straight in the WTCS and moved him up to 12th overall, a strong showing for the 30-year-old Canadian.
Blummenfelt, the 2021 Ironman World Champion and 2022 Ironman 70.3 World Champion, has spent this year transitioning back from the longer distance competitions to Olympic distance in an effort to repeat his gold medal performance from the 2020 Tokyo Games. He finished 18th at Pontevedra to wrap up his WTCS season ninth overall with top-five finishes at Hamburg (fourth) and Montreal (fifth).
Also representing CADEX and riding with a CADEX WheelSystem was Pierre Le Corre finishing third at Pontevedra. The French triathlete had two top-five finishes and ended up sixth overall in the WTCS.