Triathlon: Alistair Brownlee seals second win of Series at a canter

The 27-year-old Olympic, European and Commonwealth champion captured a breakaway win with a familiar crowd cheering him on in Hyde Park as he crossed the finish line in 50 minutes and 39 seconds.

Brownlee, who was denied victory in Yokohama two weeks ago when he was pipped to the line by Javier Gomez, came home 12 seconds ahead of Spain’s Fernando Alarza in second and Vincent Luis of France, who clinched bronze.

South African Henri Schoeman and Richard Varga of Slovakia led the 750-kilometre swim and into the first transition before Alistair’s younger brother Jonny suffered a mechanical problem on the bike and dropped down the field to eventually finish 42nd – just short of two minutes off the pace.

Alistair Brownlee took the lead in the four-lap bike around Hyde Park alongside Luis and Australia’s Aaron Royle in an 18-man pack before he and the Frenchman continued on their quest for a podium finish, with the Brit stepping up the pace on the first of the two run laps to seal victory.

“Some of the guys went really quick during the first kilometre of the run,” said Brownlee.

“I then got into my stride and felt really good. I was glad to be able to race to the best of my ability. I haven’t done that for a while.”

Despite his absence, Spaniard Javier Gomez Noya maintained his Columbia Threadneedle leader position in the rankings ahead of compatriots Mario Mola and Alarza, with South Africa’s Richard Murray fourth and Alistair Brownlee holding the fifth position two spots ahead of his brother Jonny.

Jonny Brownlee expressed his disappointment after a puncture to his bike effectively ended his race.

“I thought I was in ‘dreamworld’ after an amazing swim,” he said.

“I then got on the bike and people were shouting that I had a puncture. I then had to fix the problem.”

When asked whether he thought he could, perhaps, have caught the race leaders, Brownlee added: “You feel you can do something, but there was no chance.”

Gwen Jorgensen won her 10th straight World Triathlon Series race yesterday, clocking 55 mins 45 secs, and leading a US clean sweep with fellow countrywomen Katie Zaferes and Sarah True finishing second and third respectively.