Cantero wins in Iquique as Spain takes three medals

David Cantero Del Campo won the Iquique Triathlon World Cup 2026 on Sunday 8 November in Chile, in a time of 50:52. The triathlete from Aldaia won the men’s race in a sprint finish, leading a three-medal haul for Spain, with Antonio Serrat Seoane and Marta Pintanel taking bronze.

For Cantero, 23, it was his second win of the season on the circuit and his fifth World Cup victory, according to Proyecto FER. In the women’s race, Colombia’s María Carolina Velásquez beat the USA’s Taylor Knibb in a finish that left both with the same official time.

The inaugural race was held over the sprint distance, with a 750-metre sea swim, a 20-kilometre bike leg and a 5-kilometre run. The bike course was flat and not very technical, while the run followed the Pacific coast, with the Atacama Desert as a backdrop.

A bike breakaway and five contenders for victory

Cantero, the top seed, and Serrat came out of the water together, 24 seconds behind the leaders. Benedikt Bettin and Márton Kropkó shared the fastest swim split, with Baptiste Passemard, Morgan Pearson and Chile’s Diego Moya close to the front. Brothers Sullivan and Porter Middaugh lost around 45 seconds.

During the four bike laps, a group formed that grew to 24 athletes. Sullivan Middaugh, Itamar Eshed and Porter Middaugh were among the fastest on the bike, but the move that broke up the group came with one lap to go, when Kropkó and Samuel Künz attacked.

The two breakaway athletes reached the second transition with a lead of almost 20 seconds, but were caught during the run. Sullivan Middaugh recorded the second-fastest transition in 0:21; Cantero and Porter Middaugh took 22 seconds.

Cantero and Sullivan Middaugh started the final 5 kilometres strongly, followed by Serrat, Pearson and Porter Middaugh. Before the end of the first of the two laps, the five were together. The Spaniard accelerated at the final turn before the transition and opened the gap that gave him victory.

Serrat completes a Spanish double podium

Porter Middaugh and Serrat crossed the line together in 50:55, with silver going to the American and bronze to the Spaniard. Serrat recorded the fastest run split of the men’s race in 14:14, ahead of Cantero’s 14:15. Middaugh completed the leg in 14:17.

The close racing extended beyond the battle for medals: the top ten finished within 17 seconds of each other. The other notable men’s results were:

• 4th Sullivan Middaugh (USA), 50:57.
• 5th Morgan Pearson (USA), 51:00.
• 6th Louis Vitiello (France).
• 7th Liam Donnelly (Canada).
• 8th David Lang (Luxembourg).
• 9th Daniel Van Aardt (Great Britain).
• 10th Christopher Deegan (Australia).
• 11th Reese Vannerson (USA).
• 13th Benedikt Bettin (Germany).
• 14th Pelayo González Turrez (Spain), 51:26.
• 16th Diego Moya (Chile).
• 24th Márton Kropkó (Hungary).
• 26th Mateo Mendoza Burgos (Chile).
• 34th Sebastian Zurob (Chile).
• 45th Samuel Künz (Austria).

Moya was the top Chilean in the men’s race. His compatriot Zurob, 19, made his World Cup debut.

Velásquez beats Knibb as Pintanel takes bronze

The women’s swim was marked by heavy surf that made the beach start difficult. Ana Carballo and Italy’s Carlotta Missaglia caught a wave as they came out of the water to move to the front. A breakaway led by Knibb then got the better of the chasing group on the bike.

Pintanel completed the bike leg in the leading group and started the run in third, three seconds behind the leaders. In the final 500 metres, Velásquez and Knibb broke away and contested the win in a sprint finish: the Colombian prevailed by less than a second, although both were given an official time of 55:47.

Knibb recorded the fastest women’s run split in 16:03. Pintanel ran 16:20 and held on to third place in 55:53, six seconds behind the winner. Her medal came a week after her first World Cup victory, achieved in San Pedro de la Paz on 1 November.

Knibb had won the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona on 10 October. Behind the podium, the women’s standings included these notable results:

• 4th Carlotta Missaglia (Italy), 55:55.
• 5th Annie Fuller (USA), 55:56.
• 6th Ana Carballo (Spain), 56:23.
• 17th Bárbara Riveros (Chile).
• 24th Noelia Juan (Spain), 58:58.
• 29th Daniela Moya Chamorro (Chile).

Riveros was the top Chilean in the women’s race. On the bike, she was part of the chasing group, which lost nearly a minute to the 13 leaders.

From San Pedro de la Paz to Iquique

Cantero’s victory came after he failed to finish the San Pedro de la Paz World Cup a week earlier. At that race, Carballo finished second behind Pintanel and earned her first individual podium on the circuit.

The Iquique win added to Cantero’s victory in Lanzarote in March. According to Proyecto FER, the athlete from Aldaia now has nine World Cup medals: five golds, three silvers and one bronze. His other victories came in Valencia in 2023 and 2024 and in Florianópolis in 2025.

Also in 2025, Cantero was third in Viña del Mar and second in San Pedro de la Paz. In August 2026 he took silver in Weihai, his first World Series medal. He plans to end the season at the Abu Dhabi World Series on 13 November.