Jonathan Brownlee Opens His Season With Yokohama Win

Great Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee comes back from injury to take ITU WTS Yokohama victory.

The men kicked off their race at 11 a.m. local time under rainy conditions. Canada’s Andrew McCartney led the efforts out of the swim, with the 2012 ITU world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) five seconds back. McCartney was first out of T1 with Brownlee, Ivan Vasiliev (RUS), Joao Silva (POR), Denis Vasiliev (RUS), Marco Van Der Stel (NED), Henri Shoeman (RSA), Andrey Bryukhankov, Javier Gomez (ESP) and Ben Shaw (IRE) following.

Eight of those men, including both Brownlee and Gomez, broke away early on the bike and spent the entire 40K building a lead over the chasers. Brownlee and Gomez worked hard and gave the leaders a gap of 1:20 over the second group. With the two Olympic medalists out front and the chase group so far behind, it was evident early on that the podium would come from that front group of eight.

Brownlee, who delayed the start of his season due to an ankle injury, blasted out of transition and Gomez worked to stay on his heels. The wet roads and shoulder-to-shoulder running by Brownlee and Gomez were reminiscent of the 2012 ITU WTS Grand Final in Auckland. The drama didn’t last to the finish line this time, though. In a performance similar to what his brother, Alistair, gave in San Diego, Brownlee broke away and dominated the 10K despite limited run training.

His 29:24 run split gave him the 1:44:59 victory. Gomez easily held on for second, with Silva rounding out the podium. After finishing fourth against a competitive field at Ironman 70.3 St. George less than seven days ago, Ivan Vasiliev impressed with a fourth-place finish.

“I have literally only trained for two weeks,” Brownlee said of his run fitness. “I don’t know. I got a bit emotional. I thought the season was over two months ago. To be back here again is weird. I don’t know where it came from, but it felt good.”

Silva’s podium was enough to keep him on top of the ITU World Triathlon Series rankings.

ITU World Triathlon Series Yokohama
Yokohama, Japan – May 11, 2013
1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run

Men
1. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 1:44:59
2. Javier Gomez (ESP) +:24
3. Joao Silva (POR) +1:17
4. Ivan Vasiliev (RUS) +1:26
5. Richard Murray (RSA) +2:24

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