Fernando Alarza captured his first World Triathlon Series victory in Cape Town today, with pre-race favourite Mario Mola of Spain, looking to claim a 3rd straight WTS victory, unable to catch up after failing to get in the lead bike group.
Advertisement
With Alistair Brownlee sitting out due to illness, it was down to brother Jonny to lead the British contingent. Fellow Brit Adam Bowden was also racing, looking to impress selectors with an outside chance of gaining a place on the GB Olympic team. Richard Murray was also missing with an injury, as was Javier Gomez – otherwise it was a stacked field, with Mario Mola being the one to beat due to his blistering run speed.
Off the pontoon in the sprint-distance race it was one long line for the duration of the 750m swim, with almost no breaks whatsoever in the 64-strong field. It was business as usual for super-swimmer Richard Varga (SVK), who exited the water in 8mins 54secs, followed closely by Henri Schoeman (RSA) and Jonny Brownlee.
Click Here: liverpool mens jersey
Mario Mola came out of the swim almost 30 secs down, and found himself in the chase group on the bike. The front pack included all those tipped for potential podium places barring Mola, with Brownlee pushing the pace early on. The chase group never managed to claw back more than 6 secs over the whole 20km bike leg, and it was Brownlee, Fernando Alarza (ESP), Dorian Coninx (FRA) and Shoeman who came into T2 first.