Vicky Holland took the tape at the Mooloolaba World Cup and stood on the podium alongside British teammate Georgia Taylor-Brown as the Brits took the first one-two of the season.
The British athletes enjoyed a strong swim before coming out of T1 in the lead bike pack alongside Emma Jeffcoat (AUS) and Kirsten Kasper (USA).
The lead bike pack was caught up and created a large group all battling for the lead. Holland and Taylor-Brown remained in control as the athletes came into T2.
Jeffcoat left T2 in the lead and held a two second lead on the Brits but they worked consistently to close the gap and move into the lead.
Holland and Taylor-Brown were working alongside each other for most of the 5km run but as the race entered the final lap Holland made her move for the lead and with the final 200m showed her strength to extend her lead over Taylor-Brown.
Holland sprinted for the tape and won her first gold of the season with a 15 second lead over Taylor-Brown who won the silver.
“I’m really happy to win here in Mooloolaba today,” Holland said. “It’s been a crazy couple of weeks and I was determined to stand on the start line today and enjoy the race. I wanted to put into practice the work I’ve done over the winter specifically to do with the swim and the bike. The run is a bit unknown for me at the moment as I’ve not done lots of running.
“As it turned out I swam well. I was pleased with how I did. The first few minutes on the bike I struggled to find my legs but then I found my groove and felt ok throughout the rest of the bike.
"Georgia and I created a gap quite early and I tried to really push it on in the second lap knowing it would mean we would break away from the chase pack. Then once we were clear, it was between me and Georgia. I was able to use the downhill on the last lap to breakaway to surprise myself to win. More than anything I am delighted to have been able to race and now we just wait and see what happens next.”
Under 23 athletes Sian Rainsley and Olivia Mathias finished in 18th and 19th place respectively.
In the men’s race, Ben Dijkstra secured fourth place behind a sprint finish led by Hayden Wilde (NZL) and Ryan Sissons (NZL).
The bike leg saw a huge group lead the race and it included Dijkstra, Tom Bishop, Alex Yee and Sam Dickinson but a crash as the race entered T2 meant Yee and Dickinson lost ground.
Dijkstra got out into the lead pack on the run and was alongside Wilde and Sissons and crossed the finish line in fourth place.
Bishop secured 14th place with Yee and Dickinson in 37th and 38th place respectively.
