Mario Mola of Spain took his third straight WTS Hamburg title and second WTS win of the year on the strength of a race-best 13:59 5k run that brought him to the finish of this sprint distance race in 53:24 with a 5 seconds margin of victory over Vincent Luis of France and 8 seconds over 3rd place finisher Richard Murray of South Africa.

With the win, Mola upped his WTS series leading total to 4641 points, which gives him a 1,308 points lead over second place WTS series competitor Luis – and an almost unassailable margin in his search for a third straight WTS Series World Championship.

The Hamburg win adds to Mola’s WTS 2018 resume which includes a 2nd at Abu Dhabi, 4th at Bermuda, 1st at Yokohama and 2nd at Leeds.

Swim

Marten Van Riel of Belgium and Luis led the 750 meter swim in equal times of 8:54, which gave them a 1 second lead on Richard Varga of Slovakia and, of the eventual contenders, 9 seconds on Jonathan Brownlee of Great Britain, 13 seconds on Jacob Birtwhistle of Australia, 16 seconds on Mola and 27 seconds on Richard Murray of South Africa. Ryan Sissons of New Zealand and Ryan Bailie of Australia both incurred 10 seconds penalties for jumping the start horn

Bike

On Lap 1 of six, a lead pack of 11 created a 7 seconds gap on a clot of 30 chasers. On Lap 2, Brownlee, Luis and Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway made a successful break that lasted throughout the 20 kilometer bike leg on the narrow streets of the city.

By Lap 4, the trio created a 20 seconds gap which left Mola in 13th place. Upon reaching T2, Brownlee led Blummenfelt and Luis with Mola about 12th with a 20 seconds deficit. Soon after starting the run, Blummenfelt was felled by cramps and withdrew.

Run

At the end of the first lap of the run, Brownlee and Luis had an 11 seconds lead on the chasers led by Mola, Birtwhistle and Murray running together with Van Riel and Tyler Mislawchuk of Canada another 30 meters back.

With 1.9 kilometers to go, Mola took the lead and Brownlee hung tough in 2nd place, right on his shoes. With 1.4 km to go, Mola left pursuers in his wake on his way to a 13:59 5k run and the win. Murray, Brownlee and Luis were in a battle for the medals. Eventually, Luis took charge for 2nd place and Murray passed Brownlee for 3rd and maintained their places to the end.

WTS Hamburg
Hamburg, Germany
July 14, 2018
S 750m / B 20km / R 5km

Results

Elite men

1. Mario Mola (ESP) 53:24 R 13:59
2. Vincent Luis (FRA) 53:29 R 14:25
3. Richard Murray (RSA) 53:32 R 14:10
4. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 53:36 R 14:31
5. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 53:42 R 14:21
6. Dario Coninx (FRA) 53:46 R 14:20
7. Marten Van Riel (BEL) 53:50 R 14:29
8. Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN) 53:52 R 14:30
9. Andreas Schilling (DEN) 53:55 R 14:28
10. Leo Bergere (FRA) 53:57 R 14:34