Alistair Brownlee broke away on the bike to set up a lone victory at the TransCanada Corp. World Triathlon Grand Final in Edmonton Canada. Starting over a minute ahead of the chase group, which included Javier Gomez, Mario Mola and Jonathan Brownlee, Alistair ran to a courageous victory.
Unable to win the overall World Triathlon Series title, Alistair Brownlee established a bike break away with Reinaldo Colucci (BRA) and Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) while the world title contenders watched each other in the pack behind.
Alistair Brownlee was surprised to have the time advantage at the start of the run, commenting: “Having an 80 second lead on the run at the biggest race of the year, you couldn’t ask for more, it’s the perfect scenario and I was enjoying it.”
He added: “I went in with a plan to try and distance Jonny from Javier if possible and give him a shot at winning the world title. That didn’t work on the first couple of laps so then I just had a good go at it myself. I had that little break away and got very lucky.”
Alistair Brownlee ends the season having won the Commonwealth and European titles as well as the Grand Final. Commenting on his season, he said: “It turned out alright. It would have been great to have been in the running for the world title but I made the most of it I think.”
Javier Gomez won the ITU world title for the fourth time. He secured the title with a third place finish in today’s race behind compatriot, Mario Mola.
Mola took second place overall in the Series with Jonathan Brownlee third. Alistair Brownlee was fourth despite having done one less race than the others.
Jonathan Brownlee said a stomach bug following his win in Stockholm last weekend today affected his performance.
He said: “I’ve been pretty sick since Stockholm. In the race I just felt weak. I knew on the bike that something wasn’t right. I didn’t really have it on the first hill.”
He added: “Fair play to Javier, he covered everything today. He’s been a good world champion this year. He started well and today he fought well for it.”
Adam Bowden performed well to finish 12th and move up to 15th overall in the Series. David McNamee was pleased with 14th having almost written off the season at the start of the year following a bike crash.
Elite men’s results:
1. Alistair Brownlee, GBR, 1:48:44
2. Mario Mola, ESP, 1:49:04
3. Javier Gomez, ESP, 1:49:07
4. Jonathan Brownlee, GBR, 1:49:22
12. Adam Bowden, GBR, 1:50:32
14. David McNamee, GBR, 1:50:35
31. Aaron Harris, GBR, 1:51:34
50. Matt Sharp, GBR, 1:54:37
ITU World Triathlon Series Rankings:
1. Javier Gomez, ESP, 4860 – 2014 World Champion
2. Mario Mola, ESP, 4601
3. Jonathan Brownlee, GBR, 4501
4. Alistair Brownlee, GBR, 4006
15. Adam Bowden, GBR, 1825
17. Aaron Harris, GBR, 1700
