Costa Teguise hosted this Saturday the first international event of the 2026 World Triathlon calendar, with the inaugural World Cup event, and which has delivered a top-level sporting spectacle with victories for the German Nina Eim and for the Spaniard David Cantero who consolidates with this performance as the great reference of the TriArmada for this season. The Aragonese Marta Pintanel, fourth, was the first Spanish woman in the female category, while Izan Edo, second national triathlete in the male category, was one of the most positive surprises of the day.
This World Cup has brought together around 120 elite triathletes from up to 30 nationalities who have fought for victory and for the first points of the international ranking, and marks the start of the Olympic race for Los Angeles. In addition, 300 triathletes from age groups and promotion categories have joined the event in this morning's previous popular triathlon.
The women's event started with the 750 meters of swimming on Las Cucharas beach with Frenchwoman Candice Denizot leading the race, although Spanish Ana Carballo was the first woman to hit the asphalt with her bicycle after the first transition. In the first of the three laps, two large pelotons were formed, separated by less than a minute, and which included all the big favorites, with Britons Evans and Taylor-Brown pulling the group that led the race and which included the Spanish Marta Pintanel, Miriam Casillas or Cecilia Santamaría among 18 other women.
After the second lap, the first group was losing members, and only Casillas and Pintanel kept up the pace imposed by the British and Germans. After more than 20 kilometers of the cycling segment, Marta Pintanel was the first to get off the bike, followed by Evans and Miriam Casillas.
The German Nina Eim set a very strong pace in the first of the two laps of the run to select the four women who would fight for victory until the end, with Pintanel, Taylor-Brown and her compatriot Lindemann chasing her. In the second lap, Olympic medalist and world champion Georgia Taylor-Brown launched a strong attack to try to avoid Eim's final sprint, but the German imposed her strength to cross the finish line as the winner. Lindemann was finally third and Pintanel, fourth, 20 seconds behind the winner. Casillas was the second Spanish woman, eighth overall. Noelia Juan, third of the “TriArmada” finished in 12th place after a great comeback in the run.
“I am very happy. The swim was a bit chaotic and with a lot of nerves, the bike became a bit hard for us due to the wind, although I felt very strong and controlling the race. Already in the run segment I had strength to push on the second lap after Taylor-Brown's attack on the climb and I tried to maintain a high pace until the finish line,” affirmed the German Nina Eim after this prestigious victory.
Spectacular triumph of David Cantero
In the men's category, the Frenchman Igor Dupuis and the Leonese Kevin Tarek Viñuela led the men's race after the first swimming segment, while the Spaniard David Cantero (U23 world champion in 2024) got on his bike in ninth position, although he would have to serve a 10-second penalty in the penalty box in the second transition. Serrat, Prieto, Basanta or Sánchez Mantecón also snuck into the group of leaders. In the first meters of the cycling course, a very large peloton of triathletes formed despite some escape attempts by several competitors, controlled with an iron fist by a world champion like the Frenchman Dorian Coninx who prevented any solo adventure.
The Belgian Basslé was the first triathlete to exit the second transition with the Spaniards Roberto Sánchez Mantecón and Pelayo González who quickly took the lead in the run. Before the first kilometer David Cantero placed first trying to open enough gap to serve the 10-second penalty he had pending. Before the end of the first lap, the German Tim Hellwig and Cantero opened a gap to the rest of the pack. Cantero decided to stop at the end of the first lap to serve his penalty.
Hellwig at that moment found himself with an advantage of about six seconds over the triathlete from Aldaya, to face the last 2.5 kilometers to the finish line. The Spaniard, with a veteran experience uncharacteristic of his age, knew how to keep his nerves under control and progressively cut meters from the German to win in a sprint in a thrilling finish, stopping the clock at 54:45 and crossing the finish line as champion of the Lanzarote – Teguise World Cup.
The Moroccan Jawad Abdelmoula staged a great comeback in the last running segment and was able to complete the podium in a very tactical and exciting race. Izan Edo (seventh) and Roberto Sánchez Mantecón (eighth) were the second and third Spaniard at the finish line, respectively. The Galician Antonio Serrat, eleventh, and Pelayo González in 13th place, completed the top-5 of the national triathletes.
“The race was very crazy and, unfortunately, I was given a penalty in the first transition when getting on the bike that forced me to suffer a lot. I focused on gaining some advantage so as not to lose the lead after the 10-second stop. It's an incredible way to start the season, and even more so here at home. The final sprint was heart-stopping, I attacked and thought I had nothing left, but on the finish straight I felt I couldn't fail in front of our public and I was able to pull strength from where I had none to overtake Tim again,” David Cantero stated.
The competition has been organized with the collaboration of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan through the Next Generation Funds, the Government of the Canary Islands, the Teguise City Council and the Spanish and Canarian Triathlon Federations, and features Suzuki Ibérica as official sponsor, the engine of triathlon.
Classifications
Women
1. Nina Eim (GER)01:02:14
2. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR)01:02:19
3. Laura Lindemann (GER) 01:02:22
4. Marta Pintanel Raymundo (ESP) 01:02:34
8. Miriam Casillas García (ESP)01:02:55
12. Noelia Juan Pastor (ESP) 01:03:29
18. Marina Muñoz Hernando (ESP) 01:03:45
22. Ana Carballo Gómez (ESP) 01:03:58
Men
1. David Cantero (ESP) 54:45
2. Tim Hellwig (GER) 54:48
3. Jawad Abdelmoula (MAR) 55:01
8. Izan Edo (ESP) 55:06
9. Roberto Sánchez (ESP) 55:07
11. Antonio Serrat (ESP) 55:10
13. Pelayo González (ESP) 55:20