Brownlee bags comeback victory in Madrid
Garmin-sponsored reigning ITU World Champion Alistair Brownlee stormed the third meet of the series in Madrid to defend his title and wrap up a 5th consecutive championship win.
After a two-and-a-half month break away from the circuit resting a stress fracture, Brownlee steeled himself in the scorching Spanish heat to snatch victory from an ambitious field.
65 competitors started the race, completing two loops of the Casa de Campo Lake, with Russian Dmitry Polvansky leading the pack.
The bike stage saw the field break into two groups – the first including both Alistair Brownlee and his talented younger brother Jonathan.
Alistair Brownlee really made his mark in the run, his favourite discipline, ultimately stretching to a 20-metre lead on the rest of the pack with only Australian Courtney Atkinson, Swiss Sven Riederer and local favourite Javier Gomez for company.
After breaking away to take the win with a lead of 500 metres and a time of 1:52:41, Brownlee has put himself back in contention to defend his world crown.
Garmin kit-sponsored Alistair Brownlee is the current World Triathlon Champion and uses Garmin sports GPS to train on the bike, in the water and on the run. The highest-ranking British competitor in the 2008 Olympic Games, Brownlee is one of the favourites for gold in London 2012.