Normal service, emphatically resumed. Magic tricks? Yeah, there were those too.
Hayden Wilde did things only Hayden Wilde can do in Singapore on Saturday, delivering the most dominant performance in men’s T100 history with a 6min 21sec winning margin in the 2026 season opener — the largest in the format’s history.
The reigning world champion crossed the line in steamy Singapore in 3:21:58, with ample time to recalibrate before Britain’s Sam Dickinson and Germany’s Mika Noodt filled the podium.
The much-anticipated showdown with WTCS world champion Matt Hauser never materialised. In truth, nothing much else did — except Wilde.
There was even a trick of levitation with Wilde somehow balancing a bottle, with a little assist from his backside, on his saddle after it had wriggled free of his Canyon’s rear bottle cage on the bumpy Singapore highways. The Kiwi coolly reached around to nab the offender, took a swig, pulled a ‘only I can do that’ face for the camera and was back on his way at full speed.
Into the early championship lead and a US$50,000 (NZ$85k) payday as it turns out. As ever, Wilde had a line for that too.
“Gotta pay for weddings somehow!” Wilde said, referring to his recent engagement to Belgian triathlete Hanne De Vet before getting back to matters racing.
“Really, really happy,” the Andorra-based, Whakatane 28-year-old said. “I just tried to keep my numbers and made sure I was just doing my own race.”
It was a masterclass in controlled aggression. Sixth out of the water in 26:09 — just nine seconds off the leader and a significant improvement on Singapore 2025, when he was a minute back — Wilde had barely mounted his bike before the race was being reshaped in his image.
A trademark first-lap surge carried him past Hauser, Jonas Schomburg, Henri Schoeman and then Sam Dickinson to crest Benjamin Sheares Bridge in the lead. He never looked back.
The swim exit was no footnote. In his pre-race interview, Wilde had identified the pool as his primary off-season obsession after last year’s shoulder injury.
“I think the biggest thing for me out of here is the confidence out of the water,” he said afterwards.
“Last year I was a minute back. We had more or less the same sort of swimmers up front and that felt really comfortable, felt good.”
So comfortable, in fact, that he had time to make a small but telling decision heading into T2.
“I had the opportunity, if I was far behind, I was not going to put socks on,” Wilde said. “But I was like, ‘I’m gonna put socks on.’ That gives me extra time to just get in and get out of T2.”
The socks went on. The race seemingly already won.
On the bike, Wilde averaged 42.43kph and was the fastest rider on course, building a lead of over a minute before settling into a rhythm that spoke of authority rather than panic.
A power meter failure halfway through the ride — it disconnected from his Garmin, leaving him riding on heart rate alone — barely registered.
“It was really hard to figure out what I was doing, and then it finally connected and I was able to continue and just put my head down,” Wilde said of his 1:51:32 split for the 80km bike leg.
The run was more of the same, Wilde moving through Gardens by the Bay in three-and-a-half minute kilometres while the field fractured behind him in the sweltering heat.”
Dickinson ran strongly to hold second after slipping his chain on the bike; Noodt delivered what he described as his most disciplined T100 performance to date to claim third. Mathis Margirier looked threatening before cramping out of contention.
“It was definitely hotter than last year on the bike,” Wilde acknowledged. “My heart rate was well higher and my power was way lower. I just made sure I was keeping it consistent.”
Dickinson and Noodt: the supporting cast
Sam Dickinson turned a breakout French Riviera debut into a career-best T100 result, recovering from a chain slip on lap five to run himself onto the podium.
“I managed to stay calm and stay cool,” he said before being asked if he ever considered catching Wilde.
“Hayden was winning every day and twice on Sunday — really solid performance from him today.”
What about T100 becoming an Olympic Games discipline, Sam?
“Yeah, I’m all for it. You know me, I’m a sucker for the Olympics. Any chance to get another medal in triathlon, I’ll be all for it. But we got to make it more entertaining. I think we’ve got to really spice it up and get some exciting racing going on. I’ll do my best to catch up with Hayden and make it a show.”
Noodt, meanwhile, finally cracked Singapore after three years of self-described screw-ups.
“I really held back, which kinda felt wrong, but in the end it was still ultimately the right decision.”
Wilde’s Kiwi compatriot Kyle Smith, who finished second overall in the 2024 T100 standings before illness and a shoulder injury derailed 2025, crossed in 13th. The big reset has begun.
Hauser’s debut: humbled, honest, and moving on
The ding-dong battle Wilde had hoped for never came. Hauser finished 5th, eight minutes behind the undisputed champ, and was disarmingly candid about the experience.
“It was a big learning curve,” the Aussie said.
“I think it was nice to be a student of the sport again. I was humbled out there, and that’s really what I wanted. I wanted to kick my season off with a lower pressure race, to find out the inner demons and get ready for a hard 2026 because there’s a target on my back.”
There is indeed. The WTCS title defence begins in earnest now, and this year the short-course world champion faces a circuit loaded with intent. Wilde has made clear that reclaiming his Olympic-distance edge ahead of LA 2028 carries even more personal pressure than his T100 crown. Alex Yee, the Paris Olympic champion, brings his own ambitions.
Hauser got what he came for: a dose of reality and some race sharpness. Wilde reminded everyone why he owns this distance. Their next battle at WTCS cannot come soon enough.
Up next
The women’s T100 circuit heads to Pamplona-Navarra, Spain on May 23 — a new venue where Nicole van der Kaay, impressive on debut with 4th at the Gold Coast, will be looking to go one better.
The men reconvene at San Francisco on June 6, where the cool waters of the Bay under the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge will provide a very different theatre to the furnace of Marina Bay.
RESULTS — Singapore T100 2026
| Pos | Athlete | Time | Points | Prize |
| 1 | Hayden Wilde (NZL) | 3:21:58 | 35 | $50,000 |
| 2 | Samuel Dickinson (GBR) | 3:28:19 | 29 | $40,000 |
| 3 | Mika Noodt (GER) | 3:29:11 | 26 | $30,000 |
| 4 | Menno Koolhaas (NED) | 3:29:54 | 23 | $25,000 |
| 5 | Matt Hauser (AUS) | 3:30:27 | 20 | $21,000 |
| 6 | Jake Birtwhistle (AUS) | 3:31:08 | 18 | $18,000 |
| 7 | Youri Keulen (NED) | 3:33:27 | 16 | $15,000 |
| 8 | Mathis Margirier (FRA) | 3:34:54 | 14 | $13,000 |
| 9 | Gregor Payet (FRA) | 3:36:52 | 12 | $10,000 |
| 10 | Kurt McDonald (CAN) | 3:37:18 | 11 | $7,500 |
| 11 | Henri Schoeman (RSA) | 3:39:28 | 10 | $6,500 |
| 12 | Jannik Schaufler (GER) | 3:45:11 | 9 | $6,000 |
| 13 | Kyle Smith (NZL) | 3:46:13 | 8 | $5,500 |
| 14 | Wilhelm Hirsch (GER) | 3:49:53 | 7 | $5,000 |
| 15 | Henry Räppo (EST) | 3:50:26 | 6 | $4,500 |
| 16 | Dylan Magnien (FRA) | 3:51:46 | 5 | $4,000 |
| 17 | Henrik Goesch (DEN) | 3:54:45 | 4 | $3,500 |
| DNF | Jonas Schomburg (GER) | — | — | — |
| DNF | Pieter Heemeryck (BEL) | — | — | — |
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
