WTS Edmonton: Jonny Brownlee pulls off stunning victory in penultimate World Series race
Despite the race taking place shortly after the Olympics, many who were there in Rio made the start line, including sprint specialist Mario Mola (ESP) Richard Murray (RSA) and Pierre La Corre (FRA). As well as Olympic silver medallist Jonny Brownlee, other Brits on the start line included Tom Bishop, Adam Bowden and Grant Sheldon.
The swim began as always with Richard Varga (SVK) establishing a huge lead midway through the 750m course. Varga pushed on to finish the swim in a blistering 8:17mins, though it quickly became apparent he had no desire to ride solo as he was quickly joined by Jonny Brownlee and Arron Royle (AUS).
The chase pack were around 20secs down after lap 1 of 4 on the 20km bike leg, and the front three continued to work incredibly hard to keep their lead. Mola was in the chase group, and the other three Brits were all in there alongside Murray.
As the pecking order was maintained throughout the entire bike leg, the top three entered T2 with Brownlee quickly surging into the lead. Royle had a poor transition and was quickly caught by Mola, Murray and Sheldon, who looked to be battling it out for the podium places on the 5km run.
As Brownlee continued to extend his lead, Mola and Murray broke free of Sheldon, having the race of his life, as Tom Bishop moved up to fifth place with 2km to go. Brownlee broke the tape in 51:39mins, a whole 17secs clear of Mola and completing another dominant performance on the ITU circuit.
Mola still leads the overall standings, and Jonny Brownlee has now moved up to second with Fernando Alarza of Spain in third. The world champion will therefore be decided in the Cozumel Grand Final on 18th September, and a grandstand finish could be on the cards between Brownlee and Mola in Mexico.
Results
1. Jonny Brownlee (GBR) – 51:39
2. Mario Mola (ESP) – 51:56
3. Richard Murray (RSA) – 52:01
4. Grant Sheldon (GBR) – 52:09
5. Thomas Bishop (GBR) – 52:10
6. Steffen Justus (GER) – 52:15
7. Adam Bowden (GBR) – 52:19
8. Jonathan Zipf (GER) – 52:22
