Javier Gomez of Spain claimed his 4th World Triathlon Series victory of the season with a brilliant all round performance in Chicago late Sunday night Irish time.
The 2013 World Champion, Gomez, posted a front pack swim and strong bike leg before running away from the competition over the final 10 kilometres.
Portugal’s Joao Pereira took his second WTS podium in a row with a 2nd place finish. Pereira is quickly establishing himself as one of the top athletes in the sport following two break through performances.
Mario Mola finished 11 seconds back in 3rd, continuing his consistent spell with an 8th place finish in Auckland his lowest WTS result of the season.
Ireland’s Ben Shaw put himself in a great position at the start of the race as he exited the 1500 meter swim in 4th place. His 19:08 swim split put him just 9 seconds off USA super swimmer Ben Kanute who emerged in the lead.
A smooth transition saw Shaw make the leading bike pack and they pushed the pace hoping to stay away from the large chase pack behind.
Bryan Keane came out of the water a little further back but settled into a strong bike group. The biking strong men managed to close the gap to the front and by the end of the 40 kilometres it had all come together with 44 men entering a congested transition together.
The final run leg of the race proved to be a stiff challenge as the winning run splits were some one and a half minutes slower than can usually be seen. Gomez clocked 31:21 for the win while best of the Irish was Cork’s Bryan Keane clocking 33:24 for 22nd place. Ben Shaw started well but faded during the run to finish in 42nd place.
The result sees Keane move up 3 places to 22nd in the overall series rankings while Shaw now lies in 38th with 3 races remaining, the last of which is the Grand Final offering bumper points.
The 6th leg of the Series will see Bryan Keane, Ben Shaw, Conor Murphy, Russell White and Aileen Reid racing over the sprint distance in Hamburg on July 12th. Along with the Elite races the city will host 10,000 Age Group athletes and is expected to welcome 300,000 spectators for the weekend of elite and age group racing.
