Just like last year, the Dextro Energy World Championship Series Grand Final turned into a two-man duel in which Brit Alistair Brownlee prevailed by a few seconds over Spaniard Javier Gomez. The duel though was supposed to be between series leader Jan Frodeno from Germany and Javier Gomez, but that battle did not come into play and Gomez finished second to Brownlee but won the Dextro Energy World Championship title. Injuries which plagued Brownlee throughout the season may have prevented him from challenging Gomez for the WCS points title and his second ITU World Championship, but that does not matter now, all hail the new World Champion Javier Gomez.
At the end of the shootout by the Danube in Hungary's capital, Brownlee's 30:01 final 10k topped Gomez's 30:04 and secured Brownlee's second straight Grand Final victory. But Gomez's sustained excellence for the season -- 1sts at Hamburg, London and Budapest plus a second place at Kitzbuhel and a 4th at Madrid -- topped WCS season points runner-up Steffen Justus of Germany (3rd in Budapest) and WCS season points third-place finisher Brad Kahlefeldt of Australia (5th place in Budapest). Gomez escaped a serious crash when he ran into an ambulance during the bike segment and manages to stay upright.
"Alistair started off the run super fast and I just did my best to hang with him," said Gomez. "Alistair is a great champion and when he sprinted at the end I had nothing left."
Because he missed Sydney, Seoul, Hamburg and Kitzbuhel due to injuries, Brownlee could not accumulate enough points to contend for the WCs this year.
Third place finisher and series runner-up Steffen Justus was so happy when he crossed the line, that to some onlookers it may have appeared as if he had won the race and the series title. But in triathlon crazy Germany, it means quite a bit to be the best German.
Jan Frodeno, who led the WCS season long points chase going into the Grand Final, had bad cramps in his calf and faded to 41st, thus dropping off the podium for the World Championship Series season-long points chase.
"I give all the credit in the world to Jan," said Gomez. "He is an amazing athlete and it I was sad to see him suffer today."
Russian Alexander Brukhankov was in third place in the Dextro Energy series going into the finals, but a crash on the bike took him out of contention, finishing well outside the top ten and in 8th place in the series.
Greg Bennett, listed as competing as an ITU athlete as he transitions to a United States athlete, was top American finisher in 14th place.
The USA's Matt Chrabot made a brave break on the bike, leading solo for 27 kilometers before the pack caught him. Still, Chrabot hung on with a creditable run for a 16th place finish. Other USA finishers included Ben Collins (42nd), Jarrod Shoemaker (51st) and Manuel Huerta (58th).
Related galleries:
2010 male Elite World Championship gallery
2010 U23 World Championship gallery
Dextro Energy ITU World Championship Series Men's Grand Final
Budapest, Hungary
September 11, 2010
S 1.5k/ B 40k/ R 10k
Results
Elite Men
1. Alistair Brownlee (GBR)BN 1:42:26
2. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:42:30
3. Steffen Justus (GER) 1:43:05
4. Joao Silva (POR) 1:43:06
5. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) 1:43:10
6. David Hauss (FRA) 1:43:12
7. Maik Petzold (GER) 1:43:12
8. Sven Riederer (SUI) 1:43:37
9. J. Zipf (GER) 1:43:18
10. Christian Prochnow (GER) 1:43:55
14. Greg Bennett (ITU) 1:44:05
16. Matt Chrabot (USA) 1:44:12
17. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:44:15
28. Courtney Atkinson (AUS) 1:44:56
41. Jan Frodeno (GER) 1:45:56
42. Ben Collins (USA) 1:46:04
51. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 1:47:54
58. Manny Huerta (USA) 1:49:55
2010 Dextro Energy World Championship Series final points champions
1. Javier Gomez (ESP)
2. Steffen Justus (GER)
3. Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS)
4. Jan Frodeno (GER)
5. Joao Silva (POR)
6. Alistair Brownlee (GBR)
7. Sven Riederer (SUI)
8. Alexander Brukhankov (RUS)
9. David Hauss (FRA)
10. Courtney Atkinson (AUS)
