Reid climbs world series rankings

Aileen Reid dipped under the hour for a 12^th place finish at the Hamburg leg of the World Triathlon Series. 250,000 spectators turned out to cheer on home favourite and eventual winner Anne Haug who sprinted clear in the final 800 meters.

Ireland’s top ranked triathlete Aileen Reid was looking for a fast start, hoping to gain an advance over the opening 750m swim. It was not to be as Reid found herself in the midst of a physical swim and exited the water in 15^th spot and 22 seconds off swim leader Carolina Routier of Spain.

Reid had some trouble in T1 taking 37 seconds to transition from swim to bike but managed to chase hard and settle amongst the leading pack. The 20km bike leg was twisting and technical but relatively uneventful with the main pack managing to hold off some big names that had missed the break.

Pre race favourites Jodie Stimpson, Anne Haug and Non Stanford took off out of the 2^nd transition at a blistering pace and immediately pulled out a gap. Andrea Hewitt and Ashleigh Gentle didn’t panic and slowly clawed their way back into podium contention. However with less than a kilometre to go, Anne Haug stepped on the gas and sprinted clear to take victory in front of massive crowds. Former U23 World Champion, Non Stanford got the better of her country mate Jodie Stimpson and took silver with Stimpson in the bronze medal position.

Aileen Reid clocked a sub 17 minute 5km to finish the day in an excellent 12^th place. The result elevates Reid by one place in the World Triathlon Series standings to 12^th after 6 rounds.

In the men’s race younger brother Jonny Brownlee piped Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee to claim his 3^rd World Triathlon Series victory this season. Javier Gomez of Spain trailed in 9 seconds back to take bronze.

The next leg of the World Triathlon Series heads to Stockholm before the Grand Final in London from the 11^th to 15^th of September. Triathlon Ireland will be sending a team of almost 300 Age Group triathletes along with a number of elite athletes and paratriathletes also hoping to secure their slot.