World Triathlon Champion Matt Hauser has announced he will make a surprise T100 debut in Singapore later this month.

The Aussie put together the perfect season last year to be crowned the World Triathlon Championship Series winner on home turf in Wollongong, powering away from the field to add to his WTCS victories in Yokohama, Hamburg and French Riviera.

And he had said the focus this season would be on short course as the build towards the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 starts in earnest.

The one non-drafting event that was potentially on his schedule was the Noosa Triathlon at the end of this season but now there’s been a change of plan – or a “detour” in his words.

‘I stupidly said yes’

The postponement of WTCS Abu Dhabi at the end of March due to the conflict in the Middle East has seen a few top triathletes add a different race into their calendar – and Hauser is the latest.

Speaking on his most recent YouTube video, which is embedded below, he explained: “So as you can see, I’m on a TT bike. I said I wasn’t going to do a TT race other than Noosa this year, but here I am preparing for Singapore T100.

“They have offered me a wild card. I stupidly said yes, because there were no other races going on. Abu Dhabi was cancelled. I’ve been sick for a week. I haven’t been able to get to training, so I’ve got a long month ahead of me trying to prepare for it.”

‘I’m up for the challenge’

Also on the start list is the reigning T100 champion Hayden Wilde and it means that none of the ‘big three’ on the men’s side – Hauser, Wilde and Alex Yee – will race what now becomes the WTCS opener in Samarkand on the same 25 April date as T100 Singapore.

Olympic champion Yee revealed earlier this week that he will be pacing his friend Emile Cairess at the London Marathon the following day.

And Hauser is looking forward to testing himself at middle-distance – his one previous experience resulted in a DNF at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong after a bike mechanical.

He added: “I’m up for the challenge. I think being World Champion and being a professional athlete, you need to forcibly put yourself in uncomfortable situations and positions and I think that’s what I’m doing right now. I’m putting myself into an unfamiliar territory, wanting to challenge myself while there’s no real races going on. And see what I’ve got in the middle distance.

“But one race only. So dip the toes in and keep the pencil sharp. And then onwards to the World Series. But a slight detour in the meantime.”