Brit shows grit to deny Gomez
GREAT Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee has no doubt a training stint in Queenstown provided the inspiration he needed to break Javier Gomez’ stranglehold on Auckland’s world series triathlon.
The outstanding Brit, whose brother, Alistair, is also a legend of the sport, grabbed his first world series win of the season around Auckland’s central city waterfront area on Sunday by scooting clear on the run to leave nearest challengers Gomez and Frenchman Pierre Le Corre in his dust.
The victory by the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist ends a run of three straight wins by Gomez in Auckland.
On two of those occasions (2012 and 2014) Brownlee finished runner-up to the classy Spaniard, and he was desperate to turn the tables in an afternoon race that started in bright sunshine and finished in the rain.
The top trio were at the forefront of a pack of 15 who finished the 40km cycle together but after a snappy transition, the Brit was able to stride out and put a buffer between him and Gomez that grew steadily throughout the 10km run.
Brownlee’s winning time of 1hr 55min 26sec was 15 seconds clear of Gomez who was a further 12 seconds clear of Le Corre, who got his first world series podium finish.
Wanaka’s Tony Dodds came in as top Kiwi in 10th spot, two places clear of Auckland’s Ryan Sissons who finished strongly with a 31:45 10km run.
The British athlete was rapt to have put a disappointing fifth in the series opener in Abu Dhabi behind him and to also break Gomez’ run of successes in the event.
‘‘He’s dominated me in this event in the past, so it’s nice to beat him here but most importantly it’s nice to win,’’ Brownlee said afterwards.
‘‘After Abu Dhabi I beat myself up for three weeks because I made some terrible mistakes. In this race I wanted to not make those mistakes and show what form I’m in.’’
Brownlee and the British team spent an important fortnight in Queenstown preparing for this race, and that paid dividends on a squally afternoon in Auckland.
‘‘We had great setup that worked well. I had food cooked for me and was driven around, and all I did for 2 ⁄ weeks was swim, bike, run and sleep. It seemed to work.’’
Gomez never had the kick on the run to contend with Brownlee but was still happy with a runnerup finish after a buildup disrupted by illness.
‘‘I wasn’t my best today but Jonathan was better, it’s as simple as that,’’ Gomez said. ‘‘I got the best result I could today, considering my fitness. I’m quite happy.’’
And Gomez was not too disappointed his run of victories in Auckland was halted.
‘‘It came to an end but it was a second place and that’s better than 10th. I still managed to get a podium. I can’t win every race in Auckland.’’ .