Potter wins the Grand Final ahead of teammate Kate Waugh, who collects her first WTCS medal; Cassandre Beaugrand finishes third in the race and runner-up in the series <\/p>
*This piece is being updated<\/strong><\/p>\n Great Britain has a new World Triathlon champion. Scotland\u2019s Beth Potter<\/a> pulled out a near perfect performance in the 2023 Grand Final to claim her first world title.<\/strong><\/p>\n The victory was the first series-long championship win for Team GB since Vicky Holland<\/strong><\/a> in 2018 (Georgia Taylor-Brown won a one-off race title in 2020).<\/p>\n Heading into the Grand Final, Beaugrand was a sliver in front of Potter in the championship rankings, leaving the title chase wide open for the final race of the season.<\/p>\n Italy\u2019s Bianca Seregni led the group of 59 women out of the water after the first lap in 9:28mins. Just behind was GB\u2019s There was also a race within a race taking place as Team USA was chasing the final two Olympic slots; 70.3 world champion Taylor Knibb<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 not racing in Pontevedra \u2013 having taken the first one at the Paris Test Event. Spivey, Rappaport, Jorgensen, Kirsten Kasper and Zaferes were now all vying to finish as high as possible in the top eight to meet the US criteria.<\/p>\n By the end of the 1.5km swim, it was Mathias into T1 first, bringing Seregni, Maya Kingma (NED), Coldwell, Rappaport, Vittoria Lopes<\/strong><\/a> (BRA), Minori Ikeno (JPN), Spivey and Beaugrand, \u00a0was the first out.<\/p>\n Potter was 16secs off the pace, alongside compatriot Kate Waugh<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Jorgensen lost more time on the second lap to leave the water 32secs back.<\/p>\n An early group of six \u2013 Coldwell, Mathias, Lopes, Kingma, Beaugrand and Sophie Linn (AUS) \u2013 formed at the front for the eight-lap 40k, but within the same lap the next chasing packs had merged to make 15, meaning Potter, Waugh, Lombardi, Spivey and Laura Lindemann<\/strong><\/a> (GER) were all together.<\/p>\n Nearly 30secs back came the one and only chase group, into which Rappaport had dropped after a poor transition.<\/p>\n At the start of lap three, the gap had stretched by 10secs.<\/p>\n Rapapport was the first big name to clock a DNF, the fifth-place in the standings pre-race succumbing to a mechanical.<\/p>\n Two of the strongest runners Potter and Beaugrand played it smart over the 40k, rarely putting in a stint at the front, instead conserving precious leg speed for the final 10km run.<\/p>\n Halfway though and the gap to the chasers had edged up ever so slightly, at 45secs, but another lap in and the deficit was down to 37secs. Soon after, Jorgensen was seen limping off the back of the chase group, a suspected puncture derailing her Olympic ambitions.<\/p>\nWhat happened in the swim?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What happened on the bike?<\/strong><\/h2>\n