Watch the video highlights from the men’s race
Watch the video highlights from the women’s race
For the second weekend in a row, Suunto Ambassdor Javier Gomez (ESP) stood atop the podium at the Dextro Energy Triathlon World Championship Series, winning the fifth event of the tour in London after a hard-fought race on July 25.
Fellow Suunto Ambassador Jan Frodeno (GER) claimed third behind Brit Jonathan Brownlee and added to his lead in the ITU World Championship Rankings. Gomez is now second in the overall standings.
Like Hamburg the previous week, Gomez recorded an incredibly fast final leg, which according to the official Suunto timing split, was 29min 30sec over the 10km run.
"I think this weekend I felt even better than last weekend," Gomez said. "I felt like I was flying today. On the final lap I just pushed it as hard as I could and I was able to get away."
Sixty-five men took to the Serpentine Lake in the heart of the British capital to kick off the race, as midday temperatures neared 27°C.
At the end of the 1.5km swim it was Jonathan Brownlee’s older brother Alistair leading, and he was quickly joined by a number of the race favourites, including Gomez, Frodeno and Russia’s Alexander Brukhankov, as a group of 27 athletes formed at the front for the 40km bike section.
Heading into the final lap of the ride, a small break had built an advantage of 34 seconds over the field, as the favourites in the peloton chose to save energy for the run.
"I knew I was running well, so I tried to hold back and save something for the run," Gomez said. "At that point I was just looking to position myself well out of the second transition."
Going into transition two, the break had a 50 second lead, but immediately the Brownlee brothers, Frodeno and Gomez took up the charge of chasing them down, catching them by the end of the first of three laps.
Heading into the final lap, the Brownlees and Gomez were able to drop Frodeno, and it appeared the podium was set. With only a kilometre left to run, Gomez surged, pulling away from the pair of Brits, as Alistair appeared to be in a world of hurt. With only 400 metres left to run, Alistair slowed to a pedestrian pace and appeared to be on the verge of passing out.
Gomez broke the tape in 1hr 42min 8sec, with Jonathan Brownlee finishing second six seconds later. Frodeno hung on to finish third, crossing the line 16 seconds after Jonathan Brownlee.
"To be honest I really wasn't feeling fantastic on the run," Frodeno said. "Mentally it was a big fight for me today. I was just really happy to be able to hang with Javier and the two Brownlees today. They made it really tough."
Alistair Brownlee was reduced to a painful walk for the final 50 metres, crossing the line in 10th before being rushed off to the medical tent.
Brukhankov, also a Suunto Ambassador who trains with a Suunto t6c, was fourth and is now third in the World Rankings behind Frodeno and Gomez.
In the women’s race, Helen Jenkins (GBR) was third behind surprise winner Paula Findlay of Canada and Nicola Spirig (SUI). It’s the second year in a row that Suunto Ambassador Jenkins has finished third in her home event.
“My plan today was just to commit to the whole race and to go hard for two hours,” said the t6c user, “so I’m really happy with how things turned out.”
The athletes will now have a three-week rest before heading to Kitzbühel, Austria for the penultimate stage of the Series on August 14-15.
Images by Delly Carr/Triathlon.org