Heartbreak for Henri in Yokohama

PIPPED at the post, Henri Schoeman’s race at the Yokohama World Triathlon Series (WTS) ended in heartbreak as he had to settle for fourth place after he had his hand on the bronze medal.

The Olympic bronze medallist got involved in a three-way tussle with Spain’s Fernando Alarza and Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt for the silver and bronze medal over the final lap.

Schoeman was one of the first men out of the water with Olympic silver medallist Jonny Brownlee of Great Britain leading the charge going into the cycling leg.

Brownlee’s race effectively ended after a bike crash just outside the second transition with Schoeman, Hungary’s Gabor Faldum and Blummenfelt taking the lead going into the run leg.

The Briton picked up his bicycle to complete the cycle leg before finishing the race in 42nd place.

Reigning ITU World Champion Mario Mola soon caught up with the leading men on the run course before the Spaniard opened a sizeable gap which he held to claim the title.

Alarza pulled away to claim silver with Blummenfelt claiming bronze with a three-second advantage.

While Schoeman will be gutted about missing out on a medal, he climbed one place on the WTS rankings to fourth place with an absent Richard Murray dropping to fifth place.

Meanwhile, Gillian Sanders did not finish the elite women’s race with the country’s top female sliding five spots on the WTS rankings to 20th place.