🚲 He’s the alpha rider in global short and mid distance triathlon and will likely smash Ironman bike courses too in the not-too-distant future. But how good is Hayden Wilde in the saddle when compared to some of the world’s best pro road cyclists?
We’ll have an answer of sorts this week with the double Olympic medallist and reigning T100 Triathlon World Tour champion set to race the Elite New Zealand Road Cycling Nationals in Te Awamutu.
After ending 2025 on the athletics track at AUT Millennium running the elite 5000m at the fabled ‘Night of 5s’, Wilde will open his year racing Thursday’s 44.2km Time Trial (TT) and Saturday’s 188km road race for Whakatane Cycle Club.
Just like the Night of 5s on Auckland’s North Shore which featured Olympic pal Sam Tanner and teen phenom Sam Ruthe, Cycling New Zealand’s showcase road event is set to pack a hefty punch in terms of big name talent.
Defending TT champion Finn Fisher-Black headlines a bevy of top-tier UCI World Team riders set to light up the back channels of Te Awamutu
The 24-year-old Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe rider is best remembered for becoming just the sixth Kiwi to podium in a Grand Tour, finishing second on stage 16 of the 2023 Vuelta a España. In addition to that magical moment in his Grand Tour debut, Fisher-Black finished 4th in the points classification at the recent Santos Tour Down Under.
Climber George Bennett, the 2021 NZ road race champion, classics specialist Dion Smith and puncher Corbin Strong will see NSN Cycling Team (formerly Israel-Premier Tech) represented by three riders.
Other World Tour team riders include Sam Gaze (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Lewis Bower and Josh Kench from Groupama-FDJ United, Reuben Thompson (Lotto-Intermache), and 2024 national champion Aaron Gate (XDS Astana).
Add Paul Wright, the reigning NZ road race champion’s Modern Adventure Pro Cycling teammate Ben Oliver, recent Tour of Southland winner Josh Burnett (Burgos Burpellet BH), Olympian Tom Sexton (St George Continental), Unbound Gravel 200 champion Cameron Jones, and Wilde will certainly know he’s in a race, if not a different sport.
Don’t worry though, Dear Tri fans, there seems no imminent danger of the PTO world No.1ditching his wetsuit and ASICS kicks to ride off into a cycling sunset.
Speaking on Sport Nation NZ, Wilde outlined his tri plans for 2026 and beyond, describing the front end of this year as “actually pretty bulky”.
His first tri start is likely to be the Oceania Sprint and Mixed Relay Championships in the Hawke’s Bay on March 1-2. He’ll then look to repeat his victory in Abu Dhabi when the 2026 WTCS season opens in the UAE capital, before lining up in the first men’s T100 race in Singapore on April 25, WTCS Yokohama on May 16 and T100 San Francisco on June 6.
“Then I’ll go back to Europe and sort of base myself there. I’ll race Quiberon in France [June 21-22], WTCS London [July 26] and all sorts.”
Wilde’s bold bid to win both the WTCS and T100 titles last year were derailed by his well-documented training ride crash in Tokyo in early May.
His hopes of doing the double this year look strong, especially with the lighter T100 schedule in 2026, just four men’s races (half of the 2025 roster) before the Road to Qatar finale in Doha.
Getting the better of the returning Alex Yee and reigning champion Matt Hauser, among others, in the WTCS looks an altogether taller task, much like that on the horizon in Te Awamutu.
