In an almost perfect copy of their duel at the WTS season opener three weeks ago in Auckland, New Zealand, reigning WTS World Champion Javier Gomez broke away from rival Jonathan Brownlee in the final half of the run at Cape Town, South Africa to win his second straight 2014 ITU World Triathlon Series victory.

Gomez sealed the win with a 5th-fastest 30:23 run that bested Brownlee by 18 seconds and brought the Spaniard to the line in 1:44:52 with a 19 seconds margin of victory.

"The run, I didn’t feel very fresh," said Gomez. "I think we were all pretty tired. I had heavy legs but I just went as hard as I could on the third lap and I could make this little gap with Jonathan. I just didn’t look back and went as hard as I could."

Brownlee offered unalloyed praise for his rival. "I was even more impressed this time to be honest," said Brownlee. "In Auckland, I kind of let him race from the front. Here I thought I would change it up a bit but every time he went for it, I counterattacked and then he counter attacked again and dropped me. It’s as simple as that. He was a lot better than me on the run."

The second straight decisive win made Gomez the odds on favorite to win the 2014 WTS title and thus become the second man after Simon Lessing to become a four-time ITU Olympic distance World Champion.

Gomez now leads the WTS chase with 1,600 points, the younger Brownlee is next with 1,480, Aaron Royle of Australia is 3rd with 1,227, Mola is 4th with 1,097 and Vincent Luis of France is 5th with 965. Multiple WTS champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Alistair Brownlee was listed as a potential starter but he withdrew a few days before the event, citing insufficient recovery from recent injury.

The win added another chapter in the Gomez-Jonny Brownlee rivalry as Gomez now has won 6 times and the younger Brownlee 5 times in their 19 WTS encounters. It is also the third straight time that Gomez has beaten Jonathan Brownlee after his wins at the 2013 WTS Grand Final in London and earlier this year at Auckland.

Dmitriy Polyanskiy, who matched the leaders on the swim and bike, then settled for 3rd after a 31:02 run that was 39 seconds slower than Gomez and left the Russian in the final spot on the podium, 24 seconds behind Brownlee.

While they were not able to make up the 80 seconds they lost by missing the front pack on the bike leg, Mario Mola of Spain and Richard Murray of South Africa sliced through the field with the top two runs to advance from 24th and 17th after the bike to finish 4th and 5th. Mola posted a fabulous 29:57 10k run leg to take 4th place, and Murray gained some home country cheers with his superb 30:07 split to finish 5th.

ITU World Triathlon Series Cape Town
Cape Town, South Africa
April 27, 2014
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k

Results

Elite men

1. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:44:52
2. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 1:45:11
3. Dmitriy Polyanskiy (RUS) 1:45:35
4. Mario Mola (ESP) 1:45:44
5. Richard Murray (RSA) 1:45:57
6. Aaron Royle (AUS) 1:46:05
7. Aaron Harris (GBR) 1:46:05
8. Vincent Luis (FRA) 1:46:10
9. Joao Pereira (POR) 1:46:12
10. Ryan Sissons (NZL) 1:46:17
46. Lukas Verzbicas (USA) 1:51:00