Alarza prevails at Cape Town
Staking a strong claim to the third and final Olympic slot for talent-rich Spain, Fernando Alarza followed his second place finish at WTS Gold Coast with a win at the WTS sprint distance race at Cape Town.
Alarza broke away from 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain in the final kilometer of the 5k run to finish in 54:11 with a 5 seconds margin on Brownlee and 11 seconds on 3rd-place finisher Dorian Coninx of France. Alarza's 14:27 run was the 2nd-fastest of the day.
“A sprint distance is good for me,” Alarza told ITU media. “I think I had the best race of my life. I am so happy because now I think I qualify for Rio finally. Today I was just very good and feeling good. It was a very strong run.”
Alarza’s fellow Spaniard Mario Mola could not make up for a 22 seconds deficit after the swim and 25 seconds gap after the bike leg. Despite a race-best 14:24 run, Mola finished 4th, 20 seconds behind Alarza and 9 seconds off the podium, thus snapping his ITU win streak that began with the 2015 WTS Grand Final in Chicago and included victories at 2016 WTS Abu Dhabi, 2016 Mooloolaba World Cup and WTS Gold Coast. With his 4th place finish, Mola stays atop the 2016 WTS Columbia Threadneedle rankings.
Brownlee’s silver medal performance capped by a 3rd-fastest 14:34 run was a good comeback after his heat exhaustion plagued 3rd-place finish at WTS Gold Coast earlier this month and augured well for a return engagement at the Olympics.
Brownlee was satisfied with his silver medal. “I didn’t finish in a stretcher today, so that was a start!” he told ITU media. “I have felt terrible since the Gold Coast, it just takes a lot out of you doing that. I wasn’t sure if I was going to start today because I felt that bad. But as we came out of the swim and the bike, we tried to keep the really fast runners behind. Dorian was as strong as an ox on the bike, we played very tactical. And while second is not a victory, from where I was two weeks ago, it is a big improvement.”
Coninx, the 2013 ITU Junior Men World Champion and 2014 ITU Under 23 World Championship gold medalist, scored his first WTS podium with a strong all-around performance in which he was 3rd after the swim, 2nd off the bike and 4th-fastest 14:41 in the run. This brought him to the finish 11 seconds behind the winner, 6 seconds behind Brownlee and 10 seconds ahead of Mola.
“First podium, it is impossible to describe,” said Coninx. “It is the best day of my life I think. My winter was really great, I have believed in my quality, so I am just really happy to be able to do well. I hope this was the first step to make it onto the Rio team. [But] I have to also do well in Yokohama.”
World Triathlon Series Cape Town
Cape Town, South Africa
April 24, 2016
S 750m / B 20k / R 5k
Elite Men Results
1. Fernando Alarza (ESP) 54:12
2. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 54:17
3. Dorian Coninx (FRA) 54:23
4. Mario Mola (ESP) 54:33
5. Pierre Le Corre (FRA) 54:38
6. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 54:40
7. Aurelien Raphael (FRA) 54:48
8. Vicente Hernandez (ESP) 54:52
9. Richard Varga (SVK) 54:53
10. Andrea Salvisberg (SUI) 54:55
39. Kevin McDowell (USA) 56:35
50. Robby Webster (USA) 58:15
