Brownlees go 1-2 at Stockholm
Alistair Brownlee and his brother Jonathan finished 1-2 for the second time in a row in the 2016 World Triathlon Series, dominating WTS Stockholm in good form that marks them once again as top contenders for the 2016 Olympic Triathlon next month in Rio.
After an early season that saw both brothers lose many races to injury recovery, the Brownlees have put together 1-2 finishes at WTS Leeds on June 12 and in Stockholm on Saturday, a return to the form that led them to a 1-3 finish at the 2012 London Olympics.
“I feel that my overall triathlon performance has been good,” Alistair told ITU media. “I think I just 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 about that much that will my best possible chance at winning another Olympic medal.”
After running near the front in the swim and during a 16-man bike breakaway, Alistair and Jonny hooked up in an elbow-to-elbow duel for the first three 2.5-kilometer laps of the run. In a script that must be frustrating for Jonny (never has he ever outraced his brother Alistair when the two were racing in good health to the finish), Alistair broke away with 1100 meters to go. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist unleashed a race-best 30:16 run to finish in 1:50:33 with a 10-seconds margin of victory over his Olympic bronze medal winning younger brother.
“I am pleased with how I felt,” said Jonny. “I thought I had a good chance at beating Alistair because I felt good on the run. We got through the first two laps and I thought, ‘Well that five kilometres went really quickly.’ And then on that last lap I heard him breathing hard, and obviously with us training together I know when he is trying to hurt. So I thought I would give it a go, but then he was just a little bit better than me today.”
The win was Alistair Brownlee’s record-extending 21st WTS victory, the 11th time the brothers shared a WTS podium, and the 6th time they have finished 1-2 .
Propelled by a 4th-best 31:12 run, Pierre Le Corre of France took 3rd place, 57 seconds back of Alistair Brownlee. Andreas Schilling of Denmark edged Fernando Alarza of Spain by 1 second at the line to take 4th, 1:14 back of the winner.
“I could not believe that I could do this today,” said Le Corre. “I was in training camp in high altitude, so I was really tired yesterday, so it is a surprise for me, but I think it is a good shot.”
After today’s race, Fernando Alarza advanced to first in the Columbia Threadneedle WTS season rankings with 3345 points. Mario Mola follows in second place with 3033 points, followed by Jonathan Brownlee with 2905 points, Le Corre with 2354 points, Adam Bowden of Great Britain with 1852, Henri Schoeman of South Africa with 1846, and Alistair Brownlee with 1652.
WTS Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden
July 2, 2016
S 1.5k / B 40.6k / R 10k
Results
Men
1. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 1:50:33
2. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 1:50:43
3. Pierre Le Corre (FRA) 1:51:30
4. Andreas Schilling (DEN) 1:51:47
5. Fernando Alarza (ESP) 1:51:48
6. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) 1:52:05
7. Jonas Schomburg (TUR) 1:52:18
8. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 1:52:22
9. Aurelien Raphael (FRA) 1:52:59
10. Adam Bowden (GBR) 1:53:05
29. Eric Lagerstrom (USA) 1:54:12
36. Rodolphe Von Berg (USA) 1:57:09
