Kyle Jones Posts Season Best at World Triathlon Series in London

Kyle Jones raced hard for a 15th-place finish at the WTS sprint in London on Saturday against a fierce men’s field. The 29-year-old Jones was the top Canadian on a course where he made his Olympic debut finishing in 50 minutes 20 seconds in the sprint race distance.

“I’m very happy with my finish today and I think it was important for me to get a result like that under my belt,” said Jones, who was recently named to Canada’s 2014 Commonwealth Games Team. “Yokohama (earlier this month) was a serious wake up call for me that I needed to back off and get some rest. No so much over training rather than under recovered. This was a good step in the right direction today.”

Jones had a solid 750-metre swim in the Serpentine where he came out in midpack setting himself up well for a four-lap 20-kilomtre bike course.

“The swim was rough with 65 guys all fighting for position over a short distance,” said Jones “Initially one group got away on the bike but we had one large pack by 10 kilometres. I sat in and waited for the run which went out very fast.”

“There were about eight-to-10 guys in the lead group, and I was at the front of the second group. I lost a few positions in the final sprint, but otherwise I am happy with the race overall. I’m feeling much better now and excited for the rest of the season.”

Spain’s Mario Mola beat both Brownlee brothers on the run to take his first World Triathlon Series title, while becoming the first athlete other than the Brownlee’s or Javier Gomez to win in nearly two years. Mola’s time was 49:46. Richard Murray, of South Africa sprinted to the silver at 49:47, while Portugal’s Joao Pereira grabbed third place in 49:49.

On the women’s side, Sarah-Anne Brault and Ellen Pennock finished mid-pack in 22nd at 56:27 and 35th in 57:17 respectively. American Gwen Jorgensen won her second straight race after breaking the finish tape with a time of 54:44. Sarah Groff, also of the United States, was second at 55:12, while Australia’s Emma Jackson celebrated the bronze medal with a time of 55:19.

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