39 PHOTOS
The ITU World Triathlon Auckland performed in the heart of Auckland City on Queens Wharf, with a superb hub based venue, stunning courses and great surrounding festival activities.
Javier Gomez won Auckland Triathlon three times in a row – in 2014, 2013 and 2012. But this line was finally broken by Jonathan Brownlee.
Unlike previous races between them, this time there was no sprint finish by Gomez. Brownlee took control from the start of the run and never let up, winning the race by 15 seconds. Third place won former world U23 champion Pierre Le Corre (FRA) earning his first WTS podium.
After this race Brownlee moved to the top of the World Series Rankings.
The New Zealand athletes performed well: Tony Dodds finished 10th, Ryan Sissons finished 12th. Sam Osborne on debut at this level was 47th.
The race was broken open on the swim with a lead group getting away and given it included Brownlee and Gomez. Later on a small chase group did move up to form a lead group of 17.
On the bike course the margin stayed at just over 30 seconds for a long period. The lead group increased margin to over a minute by the time they transitioned to the run. On the transition Brownlee went off quickly. Gomez lost several seconds on his transition and was back about 50 metres from Brownlee. So Gomez and Le Corre chased Jonathan Brownlee during run course.
Brownlee said:
“After Abu Dhabi I beat myself up for three weeks because I made some terrible mistakes and I wanted to do well in this race to show the form I am in. I love this course, it is an honest course and you can make people work on the bike and when it came to the run I felt good. …Queenstown was a great set up with the British team, in the past I have got it wrong with doing too many miles but this worked well, all I did for two and half weeks was train, I had everything done for me and all I had to do was swim, bike, run and sleep. I get inspiration from the surroundings and environment and the hills so that is why I went to Queenstown and thankfully it worked.”
Gomez said:
“I wasn’t at my best today but Jonathan was better, it was as simple as that. I was happy I had a good swim and we worked hard on the bike, but in transition I made a mistake and I was 5 or 6 seconds behind, I kept that distance for one and half laps but then he opened the gap and my battle was with Pierre for second. I dropped him on the last lap so that is okay, better than 6th place in Abu Dhabi, I am getting better and it is a long year.”
Top ten results in Auckland ITU World Triathlon 2015. Elite men.
1 Jonathan Brownlee GBR 01:55:26
2 Javier Gomez Noya ESP 01:55:41
3 Pierre Le Corre FRA 01:55:52
4 Fernando Alarza ESP 01:56:48
5 Ryan Bailie AUS 01:56:53
6 Henri Schoeman RSA 01:57:03
7 Richard Varga SVK 01:57:07
8 Crisanto Grajales MEX 01:57:17
9 Ben Kanute USA 01:57:20
10 Tony Dodds NZL 01:57:39
…
12 Ryan Sissons NZL 01:57:58
…
47 Sam Osborne NZL 02:06:09
Look at the photos below. We posted the first course – swim. Photos of two other courses (bike and run) will be posted soon.
Visit us on www.SoftFern.com for more great photos.
| The defending world-champion Javier Gomez Noya (ESP) . Winner of Auckland ITU World Triathlon 2014, 2013, 2012. Silver medal in 2015. |
| Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) preparing to win the Auckland ITU World Triathlon 2015. |
| Transition from swim to bike. So far leader – Richard Varga (SVK). |
| Carlos Javier Quinchara (COL) |
| Stand in a queue! |
| Swim – the first lap. Leader – Richard Varga (SVK) |
| Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) – winner of Auckland ITU World Triathlon 2015. |
| Catch him! |
| Hirokatsu Tayama, JPN |
| Fernando Alarza (ESP) and Vicente Hernandez (ESP) |
| Jump!! Transition from swim to bike. |
| Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) – winner of Auckland ITU World Triathlon 2015. Two minutes before start. |
| Swim – the first lap. Leader – Richard Varga (SVK) |
| Vicente Hernandez (ESP) |
| Crisanto Grajales (MEX) |
| Ben Kanute (USA) |
| Tony Dodds (NZL) |
| Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) – the winner. |
| No 1 - Mario Mola (ESP). Winner of ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi 2015 |
| Transition from swim to bike. So far leader – Richard Varga (SVK). |
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