GBs

Lisa Tertsch claimed the world triathlon title for the first time as Great Britain’s Beth Potter had to settle for third place in the overall standings.

Tertsch won gold in the World Triathlon Championship finals in Wollongong, Australia, with a time of one hour 56 minutes 50 seconds.

The 26-year-old German finished 14 seconds clear of Italy’s Bianca Seregni, with France’s Emma Lombardi a further 12 seconds back.

Tertsch collected 1,250 points for winning the event, which took her overall tally to 3886.26 as she leapfrogged defending champion Cassandre Beaugrand (3577.04) of France and Potter (3313.18) into top spot.

Olympic bronze medal winner Potter was bidding to win the title for a second time, following victory in 2023, but could only finish 16th in the final event.

The 33-year-old Scot was joint leader with Beaugrand before the event began but Tertsch, who had been fourth, produced a superb performance to seal victory.

Beaugrand lost ground early in the 10km run, in hot and blustery conditions, while Potter failed to keep pace with the leading pack – which allowed Tertsch to cash in as she excelled on a steep course.

In the men’s event, Australian Matt Hauser capped a dominant season as he won gold in a time of 1:42:42 to clinch his first world title success.

Hauser finished with 4,250 points, comfortably clear of Brazil’s Miguel Hidalgo and Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca.

Great Britain’s Joe Clarke said he was “stuck for words” after claiming a fourth consecutive kayak cross world title in Australia.

The 32-year-old took time out of the sport after finishing with a silver medal at the 2024 Games in Paris.

He missed the early part of the season following the birth of his second child and says he struggled to “find his feet” in the subsequent World Cup events.

Clarke won silver in the men’s individual time trials and bronze in the team kayak earlier in the Canoe Slalom World Championships in Sydney, but showed his class in the kayak cross, continuing his remarkable run after winning the three previous editions of the event.

“It was a dream to come here to retain that title after getting silver in the Games last year,” said Clarke, who finished well clear of France’s Mathurin Madore in second place and Czech canoeist Matyas Novak in third.

“To compete on the biggest stage at the Olympics is massive but then I actually took some time off afterwards, so I’ve been working towards this.

“I have kind of been finding my feet the second half of the season, but it seems like I found them now.

“I came today with a point to prove and I think I’ve done that. To take a fourth world title, I’m stuck for words.”

British cyclist Finlay Pickering took a 200km taxi ride and arrived without his luggage following a flight delay to accept a late call-up for his first Vuelta a Espana.

The 22-year-old was called upon to replace injured Bahrain Victorious team-mate Damiano Caruso less than 24 hours before the start of Saturday’s opening stage.

Pickering, only able to take the call after being late to head out on a training ride, travelled in a taxi from Andorra to Toulouse before flying to Turin.

A delay meant he arrived at the race with only the contents of his hand luggage – although fortunately that included his shoes.

It was far from ideal preparation for the Yorkshireman’s first stage at a Grand Tour race, but he managed to finish stage one in 153rd place.

“It was actually really lucky. I had a problem with a pair of training wheels and they were in a bike shop so I was a bit late going out training,” Pickering explained.

“I was on the way to pick them up when I got a call from management saying: How quickly can I be in an airport?

“The first flight was delayed, so I didn’t get my suitcase. But at least I managed to pack two pairs of shoes [in my hand luggage] so I can start.

“I’ve got a set of boxers, a set of socks, and the team are really good at looking after me, so no stress.”

He added, speaking before starting the Vuelta: “I’m pretty ready. I’m a bike rider and this is a bike race, after all – even if it’s a pretty big one.”

Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen won the first red jersey of this year’s Vuelta a Espana after taking victory on the opening stage in a sprint finish.

Izzy Thorpe and Ranjuo Tomblin have won Great Britain’s first medal of the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

They scored 322.0583 points in the synchronised mixed duet free event to win bronze and claim GB’s first ever medal in the event.

It was a tight contest for a podium place, with just 1.7980 points separating first and third.

Spain’s Dennis Gonzalez Boneu and Iris Tio won gold, while six-time artistic swimming champion Aleksandr Maltsev and partner Olesia Platonova – who are Russian but compete as neutral athletes – took silver.

The British duo had the highest difficulty and execution score in the final despite only competing together once before.

Olympic silver medallist Thorpe and rising-star Tomblin won silver in the mixed duet technical event at the European Championships last month.

They have both enjoyed successful seasons as Tomblin became the first British male to win a European artistic swimming title last year, while Thorpe won GB’s first synchronised medal at the Olympics in Paris 2024.

Great Britain’s Luke Whitehouse won floor gold for the third-straight year at the European Gymnastics Championships, Leipzig.

The 22-year-old scored 14.500 to finish ahead of teammate Harry Hepworth, who claimed his first individual European medal with a score of 14.366.

Italy’s Lorenzo Casali finished third.

“It is unbelievable,” Whitehouse told BBC Sport. “I am lost for words. I knew it was possible, but to come out and do it, I couldn’t be prouder.”

It is Whitehouse and Hepworth’s second medal of the competition after winning team gold on Monday.

Hepworth, 21, will compete again in the rings final later on Friday and the vault final on Saturday.