Lots of the focus ahead of the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in Taupo, New Zealand next week has been on home favourite Hayden Wilde.

The Kiwi arguably looks the man to beat – but there’s a fellow Olympic medallist from Paris lining up against him who also has strong claims and has flown a bit more under the radar than ‘The Falcon’.

That’s France’s Léo Bergere who has more than played his part in an incredible short course season alongside Wilde and Olympic champion Alex Yee.

That trio not only filled the podium in Paris but also in the WTCS Grand Final in Torremolinos – and the overall standings in that series.

And just to round off the short-course campaign in fitting style they were also one-two-three in the supertri finale in Neom, Yee taking the race win and Wilde the title.

Rare opportunity

But while Bergere has yet to register a win in 2024 it’s been another magnificently consistent season at the top level for the 2022 World Champion, with top-four placings in all but one of his races.

Could that elusive victory come on the other side of the world – and at middle-distance?

For with the 70.3 Worlds so late in the year, and with Paris done and dusted, it’s given Bergere a first opportunity to race the event despite qualifying in each of the last three seasons.

He headed to New Zealand this week and speaking beforehand in a beautifully shot video back in the south of France, which is embedded below, he said: “This year I took on the challenge to be on the start line at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships.

“You’ve seen me doing at least one 70.3 each year – each time I take the qualification for the World Championship but I never had the opportunity in terms of the race calendar.

“I dream about it so this time is my turn – I want to go there and I’m really motivated.”

‘I want to succeed’

And for the first time in his career, Bergere has been able to go to a 70.3 race on the back of an extended training block.

He explained: “This is what pushed me to continue my season and a little thing – this is the first time that I have had more than one month to prepare for a long distance. That was not the case the previous times because every long distance I did was really part of my short distance preparation.

“So I jumped on the TT bike only two weeks before the races but here I took a bit more time to prepare for this race and at the moment everything’s gone well and I’m enjoying myself.

“This is a race where I will not have the pressure that I usually have – but I want to succeed.”

And the worrying thing for Bergere’s rivals is that despite limited preparation time for his last three 70.3 races, he still won every one of them.

He triumphed in Lanzarote in 2022, then put the middle-distance experts in their place at Oceanside last season after a fantastic run battle with Jason West, before booking his Taupo spot with victory at 70.3 Valencia in April this year.