Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt 2026: Lennart Neubauer is world champion, Matteo Iachino wins the foil slalom – Fabian Wolf has a run of bad luck

There was little hope, but it was there yesterday evening: the forecast promised a slim chance of more freestyle heats or even wave riding, so we started checking the conditions as early as 7.30 am on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, it was all in vain; although the wind had shifted to the south and was blowing sideshore, it was only 12 to 14 knots. Not enough to start the freestyle double elimination, so the result from Wednesday stood: Lennart Neubauer wins on Sylt as well as in Fuerte and is therefore the 2026 freestyle world champion!

​“It’s truly incredible. When I was ten, I told myself for the first time that my goal was to become world champion. Until a few years ago, I didn’t believe it was even possible. Then, a few years ago, when I won the event here on Sylt for the first time, I thought, ‘Maybe it isn’t impossible after all.’ It finally happened in 2024, and now my second world title – it’s unbelievable,” said Lennart Neubauer, visibly moved, shortly after the announcement. Balz Müller is the world runner-up after finishing fourth here on Sylt, whilst Yentel Caers came third in the world championships.

Crash involving Nico Prien dashes Fabian Wolf’s hopes of victory

At midday, it was the slalom riders’ turn to take to the course to complete the eighth elimination round, which had begun on Thursday. Unlike the rest of the week, the course ran close to the shore, with the finish line right in front of the riders’ paddock – offering a perfect view for the crowds of spectators who were thronging the promenade on the bank holiday in glorious sunshine.

Fabias Wolf started the day with a 0.3-point lead over Matteo Iachino and was within touching distance of World Cup victory on Sylt. In his quarter-final, Wolf progressed unspectacularly in third place, as did Nico Prien. The two then faced off in the semi-finals – quite literally: as they came out of the first jibe, Nico fell, and Fabi, right behind him, was unable to avoid him and also fell off his board. “I wanted to make it to the final and take the gybe as tightly as possible, but I ended up crashing into him,” said Nico, describing the situation. That meant Fabi’s hopes of reaching the final were dashed, and victory in the third-place play-off was little more than cold comfort.

This is because, having finished ninth, his closest rival, Matteo Iachino, needed to finish third in the final to overtake Wolf. Pierre Mortefon secured his first win of the week, ahead of Amado Vrieswijk. As the wind continued to die down whilst attempts were being made to start a ninth elimination, the standings remained as they were; Fabian Wolf had no chance of making up for this slip-up and finished second here on Sylt. It was his best result at a ‘major’ World Cup and the culmination of an outstanding week, though certainly less than he had hoped for.

“Right now, it’s a mixture of pride and a touch of sadness. I can certainly be proud of myself for how I performed throughout the week. I was really in contention for the win right up until the very last race. Losing it like that at the very end is a shame, of course, and unfortunately there was nothing I could do about it. But that’s all part of the game, and I think that from tomorrow onwards, the pride will outweigh the disappointment. The event was brilliant, and a big thank you to everyone who supported me here,” said Fabian Wolf after the final race.

The Waveriders had to pack their kit away again without it ever having seen a drop of North Sea water. Marc Paré therefore heads into the last two events of the season as the World Championship leader. Lina Erpenstein, in first place, and Maria Behrens, in second, are also in an extremely strong position heading into the season finale in Maui and Chile.

All heats and results can be found at pwaworldtour.com