Mario Mola Wins Third-Straight WTS Yokohama

Saturday saw yet another WTS performance for the history books as Spain’s Mario Mola delivered a record third successive victory at the 2018 ITU World Triathlon Yokohama. Mola put in one of the best swims of his career, survived a massive bike pack and then broke away solo to dominate the run section and become the first man in WTS history to record a trio of back-to-back wins in Yokohama.

“That was probably one of the best swims I have ever had, I am so happy with that. It really makes the race completely different,” said Mola after his win. The Spaniard, who went out on his own in the opening strides of the run, said of his strategy; “It was one of those things that you only do once you are in the race and you see people around you. I was feeling good, I was feeling strong, so I decided to push from the beginning and see what happens.”

The Yokohama win was Mola’s first WTS gold of the 2018 season, leaving him top of the Series rankings.

The silver and bronze medals went to two men equally eager to get back onto the WTS podium, Australia’s Jacob Birtwhistle outsprinting Spaniard Fernando Alarza to take second place and secure his first WTS podium since July 2017. Bronze for Alarza was his first WTS podium finish since June last year.

Read the complete recap at Triathlon.org.