🚴 When Hayden Wilde rode his TT bike into the back of a dump truck during a Tokyo training ride early on May 4, many feared it might cost the generational talent his career.
The six broken ribs would eventually buff out but what of the shattered left scapula re his freestyle ability, much less the long-term effects of lung damage? At best his season was surely shot. At worst? Well, none of us wanted to contemplate that.
Now the Whakatane 27-year-old’s seemingly superhuman recovery powers are poised to see him return to the T100 Triathlon World Tour in London on August 9 – a mere 92 days since his career threatening crash.
The two-time Olympic Games medallist has been named as the seventh seed in a 20-strong start list missing current T100 series leader Marten Van Riel but including fellow Belgian and Vancouver T100 winner Jelle Geens, San Francisco champ Rico Bogen, fellow German Mika Noodt and Wilde’s Kiwi compatriot Kyle Smith.
Wilde, who won the T100 season opener in Singapore in April, has given himself an out if there is any setback in his training. But, as predicted in Tri NZ’s Friday newsletter The Full Send, he’s long been gunning for London.
“August 9 is definitely a possibility,” Wilde told the PTO overnight.
“My focus is on taking things one day at a time and not to have a specific return date in mind. But every day I’m feeling stronger, fitter and more confident and after having had a really positive taste of the T100 in Singapore, it’s been frustrating to have to sit and watch the races in San Francisco and Vancouver from the sidelines.”
Wilde later came out on social and tried to temper the excitement.
“Have a few health checkups before committing but currently on the start-list for @t100triathlon. Watch this space in the next few weeks weather [whether] I’ll be ready to race or not.
“Working closely with T100 and my team to make sure we are ready.”
Regardless whether the ExCel Centre in London proves the scene of Wilde’s dramatic comeback, it’s clear he still has designs on winning this season’s T100 title. We know because Wilde told us so in TFS newsletter when asked whether he would race Wollongong on October 18, the 7th of the tour’s nine scheduled stops. Wollongong is an 11th hour replacement for postponed Lake Las Vegas and now shoehorned into the October 15-19 World Triathlon Championship Finals which include the WTCS Grand Final on October 19.
“Yeah, I’ll have to. For sure I’ll definitely go to the worlds [WTCS Grand Final] at the end of the series now because if I want to go for the T100 title, I’ll have to make do and come to Wollongong,” Wilde said.
But wait, there’s more.
Not only does Wilde plan to race the T100 in Wollongong, he’s even floated the prospect of toeing the line in the standard distance WTCS finale the following day.
“So I’ll definitely be racing the T100 at Wollongong and if the body will allow me, might as well slap in a World Series race at the same time for the Grand Final. So, yeah, it’ll be a tough double header but it would be rude not to.”
How realistic all these lofty goals are will have an initial answer when/if Wilde dives into the water at Royal Victoria Dock on August 9. It’s clear that swimming, already his weakest discipline, has been impacted most by the crash and resulting surgery.
But the best medical care, including access to the Red Bull Performance Centre in Austria, and much internal fortitude since the crash has clearly done the trick.
Even Wilde’s partner, Hanne De Vet, has been impressed by her man’s comeback in the pool, notwithstanding the difficulty he’s faced trying to extract his left shoulder from a wetsuit. De Vet has earned a Wildcard entry into the women’s race so London is set to be a double celebration.
“I’ll get the camera in the water and show you this guy’s new stroke,” said De Vet in the latest instalment of Wilde’s ‘Road to Recovery’ vlog on YouTube.
“To be honest, it actually looks better than it used to be before. He probably should have got the surgery before the Paris Olympics [silver medal behind Brit Alex Yee]; that would have made his life way easier, but oh, well, we live and learn.”
There will be those concerned Wilde is coming back too soon but he seems confident in his training metrics.
Speaking to TFS earlier this month, around the time he returned to road riding in the Pyrenees near his Andorran home, Wilde said: “Like I haven’t really made a decision yet but for sure you’ll see me on a start line in the next few months.”
“I know what my numbers were heading into Singapore [April’s T100 season opener which Wilde won on debut] so yeah, it all depends if I can get close to those numbers.
“Every day obviously you improve and you want to get back as fast as possible…yeah, I guess just stay tuned on the YouTube channel and yeah, it’ll be hopefully giving you guys some Easter eggs through the channel.”
It turns out we got the chocolate via a PTO press release but either way, we’re excited. If T100 London wasn’t already appointment viewing on August 9, it is now.
T100 London – Start Lists
August 9, 2025
Men
1. Jelle Geens (BEL)
2. Rico Bogen (GER)
3. Mika Noodt (GER)
4. Antonio Benito Lopez (ESP)
5. Kyle Smith (NZL)
6. Youri Keulen (NED)
7. Hayden Wilde (NZL)
8. Leo Bergere (FRA)
9. Jamie Riddle (RSA) – Wildcard
10. Gregory Barnaby (ITA)
11. Mathis Margirier (FRA)
12. Nicolas Mann (GER)
13. Vincent Luis (FRA)
14. Panagiotis Bitados (GRE) – Wildcard
15. Wilhelm Hirsch (GER) – Wildcard
16. Menno Kohlhaas (NED)
17. Fred Funk (GER)
18. Justus Nieschlag (GER)
19. Pieter Heemeryck (BEL)
20. Will Draper (GBR) – Wildcard
Women
1. Julie Derron (SUI)
2. Taylor Knibb (USA)
3. Kate Waugh (GBR)
4. Jessica Learmonth (GBR)
5. Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR)
6. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS)
7. Holly Lawrence (GBR) – Wildcard
8. Lucy Byram (GBR)
9. Lisa Perterer (AUT) – Wildcard
10. Hannah Berry (NZL)
11. Daniela Kleiser (GER) – Wildcard
12. Ellie Salthouse (AUS)
13. Els Visser (NED)
14. Hanne De Vet (BEL) – Wildcard
15. India Lee (GBR)
16. Caroline Pohle (GER)
17. Laura Madsen (DEN)
18. Lizzie Rayner (GBR) – Wildcard
19. Kate Curran (GBR) – Wildcard
20. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) – Wildcard
