Jonathan Brownlee returns to winning form at Stockholm
After front pack finishes on the swim and bike legs, Jonathan Brownlee surged to a big lead early on the run and held on for an 18 seconds margin of victory. Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway and Pierre Le Corre of France fought to a photo finish in equal times where the Norwegian prevailed for the silver.
Surprisingly, WTS Men’s points leader Mario Mola of Spain faded from 3rd after 7.5 kilometers of the run to 7th at the finish.
Nonetheless, four-time 2017 WTS winner and defending WTS World Champion Mola remained 340 points ahead of nearest rival Javier Gomez and 504 points ahead of 3rd place season-long competitor Richard Murray going into the WTS Grand Final in Rotterdam next month. Neither Gomez nor Murray competed at Stockholm.
Mola thus enters Rotterdam needing a 5th place finish to cinch his second straight WTS World Title.
The win was the younger Brownlee’s 12th WTS career victory, placing him behind only his brother Alistair (22) and Javier Gomez (14) and one win ahead of Mola (11).
SWIM
Richard Varga of Slovakia led the swim in 17:51 which gave him a 2 seconds lead on Jonny Brownlee, 5 seconds on Aaron Royle of Australia, 6 seconds on Henri Schoeman of South Africa, 7 seconds on Andre Salvisberg of Switzerland. Further back were stars like Fernando Alarza of Spain (10th +13s), Pierre Le Corre of France (12th +15s), Thomas Bishop of Great Britain (23rd +33s), Kristian Blummenfelt (28th +39s) and Mario Mola of Spain (30th +41s),
BIKE
Justus Nieschlag of Germany led a pack of six leaders the field into T2 with a 1 second margin on Andrea Salvisberg of Switzerland, Aaron Royle of Australia, Jonathan Brownlee, Dorian Coninx of France and Jonathan Schomburg of ITU. Key chasers included Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway (9th +53s), Ryan Sissons of New Zealand (11th +54s), Henri Schoeman of South Africa (13th +54s), Mario Mola (17th +55s).
RUN
After the first lap of the run, Brownlee took an 11 seconds lead on Nieschlag. 12 seconds on Royle, 27 seconds on Salvisberg, 29 seconds on Schomburg and 40 seconds on Coninx. Key contenders Bishop (+59s), Mola (+1:00) and Blummenfelt (+1:00) were 8th through 10th.
Halfway through the run, Brownlee held a 31 seconds lead on Royle and Nieschlag plus chasers fighting in tight packs – 53 seconds on Mola and Blummenfelt and 54 seconds on Bishop, Le Corre, Sissons and Salvisberg. By Lap 3, Brownlee extended his lead to 43 seconds on Nieschlag, Mola and Royle and 44 seconds on Blummenfelt, Sissons, Le Corre and Bishop.
At this point, Brownlee relaxed a bit but not so much as to jeopardize his victory – while Mola took a shocking for him fall in the standings.
Brownlee closed with a 7th-fastest 30:47 run to finish in 1:49:10 which gave him an 18 seconds margin of victory over fast-closing Blummenfelt (race-best 30:05 run), who edged Le Corre (30:11 run) in a photo finish for the runner-up position.
They were followed by Sissons (30:14 run), Nieschlag (31:15 run) and Bishop (30:15 run) for 4th, 5th, and 6th before Mola, who faded after an early run surge to a 30:28 split to take 7tn place, 38 seconds after the winner and 9 seconds after 6th place Thomas Bishop.
WTS Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden
August 26, 2017
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Elite Men
1. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 1:49:10
2. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) 1:49:28
3. Pierre Le Corre (FRA) 1:49:28
4. Ryan Sissons (NZL) 1:49:33
5. Justus Nieschlag (GER) 1:49:36
6. Thomas Bishop (GBR) 1:49:39
7. Mario Mola (ESP) 1:49:48
8. Aaron Royle (AUS) 1:50:14
9. Andreas Schilling (DEN) 1:50:26
10. Wian Sullwald (RSA) 1:50:40
