Last year’s untouchable star returns to Singapore and picks up where he left off, opening the 2026 men’s T100 season with a commanding win – breaking away on the bike and extending on the run.
(Photo: Wout Roosenboom/T100)
Updated April 25, 2026 11:13PM
After swimming alongside World Triathlon World Champion Matt Hauser (AUS) in the bath-like waters of Singapore’s Marina Bay, 2025’s T100 champion Hayden Wilde (NZL) stamped his authority on the season from the outset. Moving to the front of the bike early on, he broke away within the first lap and never looked back, eventually building his lead to over six minutes by the end of the run.
Singapore marked the first men’s race of the 2026 T100 season, now in a redefined split format between men’s and women’s racing, ahead of what’s set to be a major shift toward a global triathlon tour in 2027 following the acquisition of Challenge Family.
It was a stellar start list to kick off the campaign with Hauser opting for this race over an early WTCS showdown in Samarkand, looking to test himself against his short-course rival at the 100km distance.
Joining them were 2024 champion Youri Keulen, Olympians Sam Dickinson (GBR) and Henri Schoeman (RSA), Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS), and Germany’s Jonas Schomburg – who astonishingly made the transpacific flight fresh off a seventh-place finish at Ironman Texas.
It is worth noting that, with no contracts in place this season, every athlete on the line had chosen to be there, taking on the scorching, humid conditions to fight for the $50,000 top prize.
How the race played out
At the start of the race, the swim was controlled, with little effort from anyone to split the field in the 90-degree water. Dickinson and Menno Koolhaas led things out, while Hauser exited alongside Wilde in a tightly packed group.
With nearly the entire field hitting T1 together, it was anyone’s race – until Wilde made his move around six miles into the bike. From there, he steadily distanced himself from the field.
Behind him, Mathis Margirier (FRA) made one of the biggest early moves, climbing eight places, while Hauser initially held strong near the front before fading after the 40km stretch in his unfamiliar TT position, eventually dropping to around six minutes back by the end of the bike.
Then came what is set to be one of the most viral race moments in triathlon history (already racking up 5 million views on Instagram) when Wilde hit a bump, and his bottle bounced up out of his cage and somehow balanced onto his saddle. If anything, this “magic” foreshadowed that nothing would stop him on this day.
Late in the bike, however, Dickinson was keeping the pace and surged into second just two minutes down, before a dropped chain out of a corner suddenly cost him valuable time.
That would be as close as it got for anyone on the run, as “The Falcon” only extended his lead, sporting a new open-top bucket hat designed to help manage the heat. Margirier then moved into podium position ahead of Dickinson but began struggling with heel pain, eventually fading back to eighth.
That opened the door for Mika Noodt to move into third, finishing behind Dickinson, with Koolhaas close behind and Hauser rounding out a solid sixth-place finish to shake off his rookie status in what he explained post-race was a “big learning curve.”
But all eyes were on Wilde as he once again managed the heat better than anyone, taking back-to-back wins in Singapore and bouncing back from his third-place finish at 70.3 Geelong earlier this season behind Jelle Geens (BEL) and Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR).
Post-race, Wilde noted the conditions felt even hotter than last year – something reflected in the splits, with only him coming close to matching 2025 times.
Dickinson, in second, focused on running “his own race,” while Noodt explained his plan was to stay patient throughout – both approaches earning them podium spots and prize checks of $40,000 and $30,000, respectively.
Hauser’s sixth-place result stands out as he now turns attention back to short-course racing, with the WTCS season having kicked off on the same day and Olympic qualification looming at the end of May.
Three more races remain for both the men and women before they come together for the Grand Final in Qatar. An athlete’s best three results, plus their Grand Final performance, will determine the final standings.
