Brownlee blasts to another World Cup Arzachena win

A year ago Jonathan Brownlee signalled that he might be a factor at the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo with a big win at the challenging World Triathlon Cup Arzachena. While he wouldn’t take a medal in the individual race in Tokyo, he did take fifth in the individual race, and was part of the gold-medal Great Britain Mixed Relay gold medal squad.

After coming out of the water at the tail end of the lead group, Brownlee blasted away on the first climb of the bike, setting up a four-man breakaway along with Tom Richard (FRA), Mark Delay (HUN) and Dylan Mccullough (NZ).

The group opened a gap of 45 seconds heading into the final lap, with the group remaining clear as they started the run. Brownlee quickly pulled clear of the rest of the men in the breakaway, holding on for the win. Manoel Messias (BRA) managed to run his way to second, with Richard hanging on for third.

Charles Paquet led the Canadian contingent in 17th, with Brock Hoel taking 28th, Jeremy Briand finishing 30th, Martin Sobey taking 43rd and Tristen Jones finishing 51st.

“I love racing here, it’s a great course, it’s one of the hardest on the circuit,” said Brownlee. “I didn’t have my best swim, on the first lap of the bike I learned from last year there’s no point going on my own so I went really hard at the top of the hill, got a gap. The three of us worked really well together, then I knew on the run that I should have enough. I doubted myself over the last few years and I think it’s because, in my early career, races and podiums came one after the other. I am never going to take it for granted ever again. It’s absolutely brilliant to win again.”

You can find the results from the race here.

Dodet runs to women’s title

France’s Sandra Dodet pulled away over the last half of the 5 km run to take the women’s race, with Switzerland’s Julie Derron and Brazil’s Luisa Baptista sprinting for second and third.

“It was a very hard race,” Dodet said after the race. “I think we did two loops on the bike chasing Mathilde Gautier and after that we regrouped. She is very strong on the bike, but we did a good job, so we should be proud. I actually didn’t feel very good on the run but I tried to stay strong.”

Canada’s Kira Gupta-Baltazar was near the front through the swim, but wasn’t able to stay with the leaders through the challenging three-loop bike. The NCAA champ took 40th.

You can find results for the women’s race here.