Olympic Champion Alistair Brownlee kicked away from his younger brother, Jonathan, as they finished first and second at the Vattenfall World Triathlon Stockholm. This marked Alistair’s second ITU World Triathlon Series win in a row, having won in Leeds last month. Helen Jenkins also made the podium in the women’s race.
After a 1500m choppy swim and technical 40km bike ride, the Brownlee brothers had put themselves in a winning position at the front of a leading pack of cyclists. Ten kilometres of running separated them from repeating the 1-2 finish that they enjoyed in Leeds. Within the first few hundred metres, they were in the lead and battling each other for the win.
Alistair Brownlee said: “I felt good today, definitely a step up from Leeds. My legs weren’t sparkling and feeling really zoomy, but I just thought if I can tough it out and run the last kilometre hard that’s my best chance.”
He added: “I feel like overall my last two performances have been good, I just I think I need to run about a minute faster, which I think I can do in the next six weeks. If I can move my running on that much then I’ll be at my best and that will be my best chance of winning another Olympic medal.”
Jonathan was slightly disappointed not to beat Alistair, commenting: “I’m pleased with how I felt, but I thought I had a good chance of beating him. I thought I’d give it a go but he was 0.5% better than me today. I’ll come back and try again.”
Adam Bowden continued his good form, running through to tenth place and moving up to fifth overall in the Series. Spain’s Fernando Alarza now leads the Series. Gordon Benson swam well and was in the front group on the bike, but withdrew to protect a slight injury to his back.
Helen Jenkins again demonstrated her consistency with a podium finish, her third out of three races this season.
Flora Duffy (BER) led from start to finish, and Jenkins was locked into a race for second with Andrea Hewitt (NZL). The Kiwi was stronger on the final climb up the hill to the finishing line, Jenkins admitting afterwards that she’d backed off her intensive run training to save her best form for Rio.
She said: “I’m really happy to get on the podium today. I didn’t have it on that sprint. I’ve not done too much running to try and protect the body. Seven weeks today it is [until the women’s triathlon in Rio].”
Duffy had a 30 second lead at the start of the run and held on for her first ever win. Jenkins added: “She deserves it after the way she raced today. I did think we’d catch Flora, but half way through the run we hadn’t put any time into her.”
Vicky Holland finished fourth, another strong result after having finished third in Leeds last month. Non Stanford crashed on the bike and was forced to withdraw but is not seriously injured. Jodie Stimpson suffered sickness on the bike and also withdrew, but remains in third place overall in the Series.
Results; Vattenfall World Triathlon Stockholm; Saturday 2 July; 1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run:
Elite women:
1. Flora Duffy, BER, 2:03:38
2. Andrea Hewitt, NZL, 2:03:58
3. Helen Jenkins, GBR, 2:04:06
4. Vicky Holland, GBR, 2:04:43
26. India Lee, GBR, 2:10:01
DNF Jodie Stimpson
DNF Non Stanford
Elite men:
1. Alistair Brownlee, GBR, 1:50:33
2. Jonathan Brownlee ,GBR, 1:50:43
3. Pierre Le Corre, FRA, 1:51:30
10. Adam Bowden, GBR, 1:53:05
DNF Gordon Benson
