World Champion Hayden Wilde Faces Toughest T100 Challenge At Sokin San Francisco T100 Triathlon

May 12, 2026

San Francisco (May 12, 2026) /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde faces his toughest T100 challenge to date as he leads the field at the Sokin San Francisco T100 Triathlon on 6 June, 2026.

As well as being the reigning T100 champion’s first start on the iconic Escape From Alcatraz course, having missed out last year due to his shoulder injury, the PTO World #1 will be taking on a men’s line up featuring six of the world’s top 10 triathletes, including last year’s winner Rico Bogen (GER).

Wilde will be a hunted man as he is joined by PTO World #2 Jelle Geens (BEL), #3 Mika Noodt (GER), #4 Rico Bogen (GER), #5 Morgan Peasron (USA) and #6 Marten Van Riel (BEL) following today’s start list announcement by the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) and World Triathlon.

And the Kiwi wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I was super happy with my race in Singapore,” said the 28-year-old. “It was hotter and harder than last year so I was happy to survive tough conditions.”

“I’m buzzing to be able to race the Sokin San Francisco T100 Triathlon this year. The Escape From Alcatraz course is a bucket list race for all triathletes which I was gutted to miss out on last season.”

“Everyone knows I love a challenge and looking down the start list, the rest of the boys have certainly answered the call. But I’ve had a good few weeks back in Andorra training and will take this challenge on full throttle as I always do, to defend my lead in the T100 Race To Qatar.”

Racing on home soil, American Morgan Pearson, who came eighth on his T100 debut in San Francisco last year, will be approaching the race in a very different frame of mind. An impressive second place finish at the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final in December followed his first T100 race win in Dubai the month before, showing how much of a threat he can be over this distance.

“Coming second in the Qatar T100 Final and winning Dubai last year was a testament to the progression I’ve made on the T100 series, after racing in San Francisco, Vancouver and the French Riviera,” said Pearson.

“My run is obviously one of my strengths and I feel I’m now giving myself the opportunity to show that over the 100km distance.”

“Competing in front of a home crowd always gives you an extra boost, so I’m looking forward to racing in San Francisco next month against such a strong field.”

With Geens, Bogen, Pearson and Van Riel all starting their first T100 race of the season; Mika Noodt looking to secure his seventh consecutive T100 podium, and trying to find that elusive top step; and American favourite Ben Kanute also joining the line up as a four-times winner around the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon [in 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2021], all eyes will be on San Francisco Bay.

The full start list of professional men competing in the Sokin San Francisco T100 Triathlon is:

 Last week, the PTO announced that global payments and financial platform Sokin will become the Tour’s Official Global Business Payments Partner as well as title partner of the San Francisco event, with the professional race branded the Sokin San Francisco T100 Triathlon and the legendary amateur race, now in its 46th year, the Sokin Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon.

-ends-

 For Further Information:

PTO – Anthony Scammell E: Anthony.Scammell@protriathletes.org

About Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO)

The PTO is a sports body that is co-owned by its professional athletes, seeking to elevate and grow the sport of triathlon and take it to the next level. Its T100 Triathlon World Tour was introduced in January 2024 and is designated by World Triathlon as the ‘official World Championship for long distance triathlon’. This is part of a 12-year strategic partnership with the sport’s international governing body to develop the sport and it will grow further in 2027 with the launch of the new Triathlon World Tour. The T100 Triathlon World Tour is a season-long schedule of World Championship level races competed over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run), where the world’s best triathletes go head-to-head in iconic locations. In 2026, the T100 Tour will deliver its 9-stop T100 Race To Qatar to: the Gold Coast (21-22 March), Singapore (25-26 April), Spain (23-24 May), San Francisco (6-7 June), Vancouver (15-16 August), French Riviera (19-20 September), Dubai (12-15 November), Saudi Arabia (November) & Qatar (11-12 December).  T100 weekends are ‘festivals of multisport’ and feature a range of opportunities for amateur athletes of all levels to get involved. From experienced amateurs tackling the 100km distance to first-time swim, bike and run participants taking on single discipline, untimed events. For more information visitwww.t100triathlon.com

World Triathlon

World Triathlon is the international governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of triathlon and all related multisport disciplines around the world, including duathlon, aquathlon, cross triathlon and winter triathlon. Triathlon made its Olympic debut in Sydney 2000, with a third medal event, the Mixed Team Relay, added to the programme at Tokyo 2020, while para triathlon was first added to the Paralympic programme at Rio 2016. World Triathlon is proudly committed to the development of the sport worldwide, with inclusion, equality, sustainability and transparency at our core as we seek to help triathletes at all levels of the sport to be extraordinary.

About Sokin

Sokin was founded in 2019 with a simple vision to remove borders, barriers and burdens associated with international payments. Today it enables global businesses to send and exchange more than 70 currencies and hold balances in 26 currencies with its multi-currency IBAN and local currency accounts — all through one comprehensive platform that streamlines cross-border accounts payable, receivable, and treasury operations. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, the company has offices in the United States, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Mexico, Norway and India. For more information, visit www.sokin.com.