Jonathan Brownlee wins Auckland
Brit Jonathan Brownlee stormed to a great win at WTS Auckland over Spaniard Javier Gomez after having been runner-up to him last year in this venue. Pierre Le Corre from France was third.
By the time the men started in Auckland the drizzle that began toward the end of the women’s event had subsided and it looked perfect for the 64 men about to jump into the water from the pontoon.
After a smooth start Richard Varga (SVK), as expected, moved into the lead to set the pace. American Ben Kanute swam well and stayed Varga's feet, with Jonathan Brownlee next after the first lap of 750 meters. Although all athletes virtually swam in one large pack, for Amitai Yonah (ISR) the 64th position after 750 meters meant 53 seconds behind the leading man from Slovakia.
During the 2nd lap of 750 meters the bunch thinned. Varga continued to push the pace and he came out of the water in 18:19. Henri Schoeman (RSA) was next, 1 second later, and Jonathan Brownlee maintained that third position. Kanute came out of the water in fourth and he had the 3-time champion Javier Gomez (ESP) right on his heels. Yonah got really dropped on that second lap reaching T1 2:44 down, but German Franz Loeschke in 63rd position was also handed a hefty disadvantage – 1:47 out of the water behind Varga.
As the men headed out on the bike a group of 16 established up front with Jonathan Brownlee setting the pace. Brownlee also had help from fellow Brit Tom Bishop at front of the race. Other actors in the lead bunch were Javier Gomez, Ben Kanute, Henri Schoeman, Fernando Alarza (ESP), Pierre Le Corre (FRA), Tony Dodds (NZL), Ryan Bailie (AUS) and Richard Varga.
Benjamin Shaw (IRL) was initially in that group but got dropped. Crashes on this technical challenging course took out Kyle Jones (CAN) and Greg Billington (USA). In the chase group of 17 athletes Abu Dhabi champ Mario Mola (ESP) was the most dangerous and for the first 15k the gap hovered around 35 seconds. Phillip Graves riding in the chase group collected a penalty for blocking, but not while cycling. He slowed down in T1 to adjust his helmet and thus, at least in theory, impeded others. Other folks in that chase bunch were Joe Maloy (USA), Leonardo Chacon (CRC), Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) and Ryan Sissons (NZL).
Up front both Gomez and Brownlee were often at the front, especially during the tricky corners. The Brit was seen several times gesturing furiously to other members of the group to put in some work. The advantage hovered around 34 seconds and remained so at the 20k mark.
Graves then attacked the chase bunch and started to close the gap by himself and with 1 lap to go the fast Brit was 7 seconds behind the last rider of the lead bunch, and soon after he connected. But the effort showed and Graves stayed on the tail end of that group. Varga lead the group into T2 just as he had in T1 and Brownlee was right on his heels.
Brownlee quickly moved into the lead and Le Corre was next on the road with Gomez working hard to reel in the French guy, also making sure that Brownlee wasn’t getting away. But the gap got larger and after 5k of running Brownlee had a 14 second advantage over Gomez and Le Corre. Out of that chase bunch, as expected, Mola was running fast and moved up, but he also lost time to Brownlee.
As the frontrunners started the final lap the rain started to come down in earnest, but it did not seem to bother anyone. Brownlee now led by 25 seconds and only a disaster could have stopped him. Gomez dropped Le Corre and took charge of 2nd place, but Le Corre’s effort was fantastic just the same. Brownlee was able to enjoy the finish stretch and acknowledged the crowd and beamed with pride as he crossed the line as the WTS Auckland champion. Gomez finished second 14 seconds later and Le Corre earned third place.
“It was great to win it. In Abu Dhabi I made many mistakes and I have beaten myself up about it in the last few weeks,” said Brownlee. “ I felt really good and I am pleased to win.”
WTS Auckland
Auckland, NZL / March 29, 2015
1.5k swim / 43.2k bike / 10k run
Top men
1. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 1:55:26
2. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:55:41
3. Pierre Le Corre (FRA) 1:55:52
4. Fernando Alarza (ESP) 1:56:48
5. Ryan Bailie (AUS) 1:56:53
6. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 1:57:03
7. Richard Varga (SVK) 1:57:07
8. Crisanto Grajales (MEX) 1:57:17
9. Ben Kanute (USA) 1:57:20
10. Tony Dodds (NZL) 1:57:39
