Britain’s Alex Yee takes his first ever ITU Triathlon World Cup win, despite starting the run 30 places behind the lead.

Alex Yee, known for his blisteringly fast run speed, finished 15 seconds ahead of USA’s Tony Smoragiewicz who, in turn, narrowly out-dipped Portugal’s Joao Silva in an exciting sprint finish.

The 20-year old Brit also saw off challenge from 2016 Olympic bronze medallist and 2018 Commonwealth Games Champion, Henri Schoeman (RSA), who led the sprint-distance race up until the second transition.

Yee, who started as number 48 in the line-up, exited T2 in 34^th position; around 16 seconds adrift of Schoeman and the leading pack following a solid swim-bike effort. With minutes, Yee had stamped his authority on the field; front-running alone for almost the entire 5km distance to take the title.

Yee said: “I came here just to see how I was after four weeks in Stellenbosch training with the GB squad and it’s worked out really well! The bike was tough but kudos to the guys I was with who all worked really hard. I always say that in tri, you need a little luck. Today it went my way.

“I had a nightmare transition but apart form that I’m really happy. The headwind left me flagging in the second half, but I did my best to run strong.”

India Lee was Britain’s sole female representative, finishing 15^th in a race won by Japan’s Ai Ueda.

Discovery Triathlon World Cup Cape Town RESULTS

Men’s race

1. Alex Yee, GBR, 52:04
2. Tony Smoragiewicz, USA, 52:19
3. Joao Silva, POR, 52:19

Women’s race

1. Ai Ueda, JPN, 57:23
2. Summer Rappaport, USA, 57:31
3. Tamara Gorman, USA, 57:44

    15. India Lee, GBR, 58:59

For full results, visit here

The 2019 ITU World Triathlon Series begins in Abu Dhabi on Friday 8 March. The AJ Bell World Triathlon Leeds and Accenture World Triathlon Mixed Relay Nottingham take place 8-9 and 15 June, respectively. To be part of the ITU World Triathlon Series when it comes to the UK, visit Leeds.triathlon.org or Nottingham.triathlon.org