Saint-Raphaël-Fréjus, France: New Zealand’s Hayden WIlde headlines a world class professional men’s field for the Ekoï French Riviera T100 Triathlon on 19th September, 2026, announced by the Professional Triathletes Organisation and World Triathlon.
Current leader of the T100 Race to Qatar standings, Hayden Wilde is looking to extend his lead of 25 points over Australian Jake Birtwhistle, who will also be racing. Wilde accumulated 61 points with a win at the Singapore T100 Triathlon and a third place at the Sokin T100 San Francisco Triathlon. After recovering from an illness that hindered his performance at the latter in June, Wilde is looking forward to returning to the venue he won at last year and hopes to replicate the result.
“The problem with my lungs has affected my training over the last few months,” said the Kiwi. “It is a bit of an unknown where my form will be at. Having a respiratory issue in endurance sports is never ideal, but I feel stronger than I was in San Francisco where I ended up on the podium.
“I am excited to be back in Saint-Raphaël and Fréjus. The stunning Estelle Côte d’Azur course holds so many special memories for me from last year. The goal is to go back-to-back, that would be incredible.”
As the reigning Race to Qatar T100 World Champion, Wilde has expressed his intent on defending his title.
Speaking after his third place at the Sokin T100 San Francisco Triathlon, he said: “I wanted to come respect the race, and I know that if I didn’t turn up, it was going to be hard to defend the title. So honestly, I’m actually pretty happy with the podium. I wasn’t expecting too much today and it puts me in a good position here to get to the Qatar final, and I can’t complain about that.”
Wilde will be racing against the best professional male triathletes in the world, with nine of the top ten in the T100 standings joining the start line. Another strong contender is home favourite Mathis Margirier. The Frenchman was fourth at last year’s French Riviera T100 Triathlon, and went on to finish fifth in Qatar.
“Last year I had a great race,” said the World #11. “Just missing out on the podium is something I am hoping to improve on this year. The goal is to get on the podium at my home race, that would be incredible.”
Sokin T100 San Francisco winner Rico Bogen also lines up hoping to build on that momentum and go better than his fifth on the French Riviera last season, whilst Jelle Geens returns to T100 action for the first time in 2026 following his third place finish in the T100 Race to Qatar standings in 2025.
The list of professional men competing in the Ekoï French Riviera T100 Triathlon includes:
- Hayden Wilde (NZL)
- Jake Birtwhistle (AUS)
- Rico Bogen (GER)
- Lasse Nygaard Priester (GER)
- Samuel Dickinson (GBR)
- Kurt McDonald (AUS)
- Gregor Payet (LUX)
- Morgan Pearson (USA)
- Menno Koolhaas (NED)
- Jelle Geens (BEL)
- Mathis Margirier (FRA)
- Youri Keulen (NED)
- Gregory Barnaby (ITA)
- Henry Räppo (EST)
- Will Draper (GBR)
- Fabian Kraft (GER)
- Wilhelm Hirsch (GER)
- Guillem Montiel (ESP)
- Valdemar Solok (DEN)
- Kyle Smith (NZL
As well as the professional men’s Ekoï French Riviera T100 Triathlon, the region will be hosting a Youth Aquathlon supported by Airbnb on the afternoon of Saturday 19 September, and the Saint-Raphaël Triathlon by Roxim on Sunday 20 September. The Youth Aquathlon is open to children aged 6 to 15, with 1,400 amateur triathletes set to participate in the Saint-Raphaël Triathlon by Roxim. The latter is open to all levels and lets everyone experience triathlon for themselves on the legendary courses of the French Riviera. The T100 weekend is bringing together the world elite of men’s long-distance triathlon, young local talent, and amateurs from all over France.
Frédéric Masquelier, President of the Estérel Côte d’Azur Urban Area said: “Hosting the T100 French Riviera for the second consecutive year in our urban area is a source of pride, both local and global. This new edition once again proves that our region is a true land of sporting performance, for the world’s best athletes as much as for tomorrow’s rising young talent.”
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Notes To Editors:
How to watch:
How the 2026 T100 Triathlon World Tour works:
- Athletes score 35 points for first place to 1 pt for 20th place at each of the races; 2nd – 29 points; and 3rd – 26 points
- The Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final has increased points to up the ante (55 pts down to 4 pts)
- Each athlete’s best three T100 race scores plus the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final will count towards the women’s and men’s T100 World Championship titles
- $275,000 USD prize fund at each T100, totalling $2,750,000 across the nine races (1st place – $50,000k; 2nd – $40,000; 3rd – $30,000 at each race)
- The series winners following the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final will be crowned T100 Triathlon World Champion and collect $100,000 USD from an additional total prize pool of $1,450,000 (2nd – $80,000; 3rd – 75,000)
- Between the T100 race prize fund and T100 Triathlon World Tour pool, the series provides $4,200,000 in athlete compensation, and is distributed in a way that not only rewards the winners, but also recognises the significant achievement of racing at this level
- For more details, visit https://t100triathlon.com/pro-racing/
For Further Information:
PTO – Frankie Draper E: [email protected]
About Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO)
The PTO is a sports body that is co-owned by its professional athletes, seeking to elevate and grow the sport of triathlon and take it to the next level. Its T100 Triathlon World Tour was introduced in January 2024 and is designated by World Triathlon as the ‘official World Championship for long distance triathlon’. This is part of a 12-year strategic partnership with the sport’s international governing body to develop the sport and it will grow further in 2027 with the launch of the new Triathlon World Tour. The T100 Triathlon World Tour is a season-long schedule of World Championship level races competed over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run), where the world’s best triathletes go head-to-head in iconic locations. In 2026, the T100 Tour will deliver its 9-stop T100 Race To Qatar to: the Gold Coast (21-22 March), Singapore (25-26 April), Spain (23-24 May), San Francisco (6-7 June), Vancouver (15-16 August), French Riviera (19-20 September), Dubai (12-15 November), Saudi Arabia (November) & Qatar (11-12 December). T100 weekends are ‘festivals of multisport’ and feature a range of opportunities for amateur athletes of all levels to get involved. From experienced amateurs tackling the 100km distance to first-time swim, bike and run participants taking on single discipline, untimed events. For more information visit www.t100triathlon.com
World Triathlon
World Triathlon is the international governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of triathlon and all related multisport disciplines around the world, including duathlon, aquathlon, cross triathlon and winter triathlon. Triathlon made its Olympic debut in Sydney 2000, with a third medal event, the Mixed Team Relay, added to the programme at Tokyo 2020, while para triathlon was first added to the Paralympic programme at Rio 2016. World Triathlon is proudly committed to the development of the sport worldwide, with inclusion, equality, sustainability and transparency at our core as we seek to help triathletes at all levels of the sport to be extraordinary.
