Just two weeks after a heavy crash in Yokohama left her bruised but unbroken, France’s Cassandre Beaugrand delivered the perfect response, seizing victory at the inaugural WTCS Alghero and reaffirming her place among the world’s triathlon elite.
The Olympic gold medalist showcased her class right from the swim. While she didn’t set the fastest time – that honor went to American Summer Rappaport with a swim time of 18:25 – Beaugrand emerged from the water in a strong position, tucked just behind a lead group that included Bianca Seregni, Olivia Mathias, Emma Jeffcoat, Maya Kingma, and Therese Feuersinger.
The bike leg quickly saw that same group break away. Though small in number, the cohesion among the six frontrunners – Beaugrand, Kingma, Mathias, Jeffcoat, Seregni, and Feuersinger – was textbook team-effort. Despite pressure from a large and determined chase pack, the leaders extended their advantage throughout the 40 kilometers. By the time they reached T2, they had built a commanding gap of nearly 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
That buffer proved decisive. As the 10-kilometer run began, Beaugrand immediately surged to the front and never looked back. Seregni gave chase valiantly and was the only one able to keep within range, but even she couldn’t hold on as Beaugrand gradually pulled away to seal the win in dominant fashion.
Beaugrand crossed the line in 1:55:55, taking the win. Seregni followed in 1:56:33 to take silver, while Britain’s Olivia Mathias rounded out the podium with a solid 1:57:04.
