Velly led a French 1-2 podium that saw his countrymate Marc-Antoine Olivier winning silver, and Italy’s Andrea Filadelli rounding out the podium with bronze.
The Men’s 10km made for a very exciting watch as the leader and front swimmers changed consistently throughout the race.
For ultimate winner Sacha Velly, his gold medal here in Golfo Aranci signifies his first ever 10km win on the World Cup circuit; something he said he’s ‘very happy’ to achieve.
“I felt really good,” he said. “I managed the whole race well. I started calmly at the beginning and finished strong, and I really felt strong today.
“I think the mental aspect is crucial. I’m very happy because this is the culmination of a lot of things, and I had already placed on the podium three times, so it’s nice to finally make it happen and win.”
Olympic Champion Kristof Rasovszky led the majority of the race with periodic lead changes between himself, Germany’s Oliver Klemet and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri.
Despite Velly not featuring in the top three until the final lap, he was a constant in the top ten throughout and said this was his plan all along.
“The plan was to avoid overexerting myself at the start and then make a move at the end, and really focus on the buoys because there were a lot of places to gain. The goal was to go all out in the final kilometer.”
Velly finds himself in a run of good form, and came into this weekend’s event having won silver in the 10km in Ibiza. When asked if his result today has given him confidence going into the final stop of 2026, he said: “Yes, of course, because that’s where it will all come down to the overall standings.
“It definitely gives me confidence, but now I’ll need to prepare well because we can’t underestimate the competitors who will also want to win there.”
There was less than a second separating the top three athletes, with silver-medal winner - Marc-Antoine Olivier - just 0.2 seconds behind Velly. Speaking on what it’s like to share the podium with his countrymate, Velly said: “I’m happy to share this with Marco because he’s kind of the one who’s been showing us the way for years.
“And beyond that, it proves that the work I’ve done with my coach, and the work we’ve done with the Federation - who put us in great training conditions - really works. So we’re definitely moving in the right direction.”
France’s ‘King of Consistency’ Wins Silver
It’s easy to understand why Olivier has earned himself the nickname ‘King of Consistency’. With 23 World Cup medals to his name, he has now maintained a top spot in the open water worldwide rankings for more than a decade.
His secret, he says, is to begin each race anew and draw on the experience he has gained from racing in open water for the past 14 years.
“Each race is a different race, so I try to do my best and find a solution every time. I started open water in 2012, so I have a lot of experience and a lot of strategy in my head.
“We have a lot of swimmers now with a good level in the pool and now coming to swim open water. So, that's very exciting because every year I need to find a solution.”
His performance in today’s event was a great example of tactics working exactly as planned. He didn’t feature in the top swimmers until the final lap, and at one point went through the intermediate gate in 14th position.
Speaking after the race, he said: “I'm very happy because after two laps, I was freezing cold. It was very, very difficult because I tried to resist the cold water, but I found my place and solution to try to warm up my body.
“I'm very happy with my race, and I'm very happy for my team too because we finished one and two on the podium. So, it's a very good result for Team France.”
With the European Championships in Paris fast approaching (August 4th - 8th), Olivier said that attention now turns to the remaining races of the year; including the final World Cup stop in Setúbal.
“Sasha has a very good shape and he had a very good result in Ibiza and now he confirms the shape here in Sardinia. So, it's very good for the European Championship in Paris and now we have a rivalry for the overall ranking in Setúbal.
“I like Setúbal because the conditions change every time, every year. So, we need to find a good strategy and try to find a solution to have a good result. So, now I'm very happy and very confident for the next few weeks.”
Filadelli Wins Bronze on Home Soil
Italy’s own Andrea Filadelli matched his result from the previous stop in Ibiza by winning bronze again here in Sardinia.
A special race for him that saw his parents there to support, Filadelli said “The Italian team is very good and there are many very strong athletes. Today my dad and my mom are here so it's very special.
“I tried to start very slow because my coach told me that is a very good solution for the race. And I think it's a very good strategy for today.
“I tried to move in the group to start on the right side and swim alone and in the last lap I tried to push as hard as I could.”
Filadelli, who now holds five World Cup medals, will race the 3km Knockout Sprint event tomorrow where he’ll hope to draw on the sprint strength he called on at the end of today’s race.
“For me, it's a difficult race. But I enjoy doing it, it's a different sprint than in the last lap of a 10km, but we will see.”
Top Ten and Sprint Lap Winner
Touching in fourth behind Filadelli was Filadelli’s Italian teammate, Ivan Giovannoni. For Giovannoni, this was his best individual result at a World Cup, and follows his seventh-place performance from the previous stop in Ibiza.
Like many other performances from today’s race, Giovannoni built as the race progressed. In fact, he was in 46th position after the first lap, before moving his way through the field to finish just outside the medals.
Great Britain’s Hector Pardoe had a very strong showing to finish in fifth, with the remaining five positions in the top ten going to Logan Fontaine, Nicholas Sloman, Kristof Rasovszky, Marcello Guidi, and Oliver Klemet, respectively.
Hungary’s David Betlehem took the sprint lap win as we’ve so often seen him do in the past. Despite a very strong start, it wasn’t his day on course; finishing 18th overall in what became a tight finish amongst the pack.
Junior Rankings
In the junior rankings, it was France’s Ethan Parker who topped the standings as he finished 33rd overall. The second junior athlete home was Colin Jacobs (USA), while third was the Italian Alessandro Cominato.
Day two of racing action will continue in Golfo Aranci tomorrow with the Mixed 4x1500m Relay kicking things off at 9:00am (local time), followed by the Men’s 3km Knockout Sprint at 3:00pm and the Women’s 3km Knockout Sprint at 5:00pm. For details of where to watch, click here.