Success in Budapest for Brownlee

2009 World Champion and Leeds Met student Alistair Brownlee finished the 2010 season in style as he claimed victory in the Triathlon World Championship Series in Budapest.

Alistair, 22, who is studying for an MSc in Finance, outsprinted Javier Gomez of Spain in the final 10km run around the heart of Budapest to win the final event of the season.  Having suffered an injury earlier in the season Alistair was unable to defend his 2009 World title, but the victory in Budapest was a goal for the Yorkshire athlete since his return in June.

Gomez led the field after the swim with Brownlee close behind but Alistair managed to edge in front following the 40km bike section with World title contenders Gomez and Germany's Jan Frodeno in close pursuit.  Frodeno didn't have the legs in the run but Brownlee and Gomez were shoulder to shoulder coming into the final corner with 100m to go.

Speaking after the race Alistair said: "I tried to keep Gomez behind me to keep his kick out of him, that's the most dangerous thing he's got. I'm glad he got the title, I think he deserved it.  I was really comfortable, I felt really good when I hit the run and I was controlling the pace for the first three laps."

"The last 5-6 weeks have been really hard with that heat exhaustion, fatigue and injury at the beginning of the year. It's fantastic to come out and race here today. I really didn't know how it was going to go.
 
"The bike wasn't hard, but it was dangerous. It was about keeping your wits about you. I didn't want anything too dangerous to get up the road because I wanted to win the race.

"Javier put some kicks in on the last lap but I stuck with him. My top-end pace is not up to scratch yet and I didn't want to push too far out. So I left it until the last 100m and then went for it.  In terms of training and fitness I am not the athlete I was last year, I am not in that kind of form. But maybe I raced better with my head today and tactically I had a good race."

Gomez claimed the World Title ahead of Germany's Steffen Justus and Australia's Brad Kahlefeldt. Frodeno's 41st place in Budapest meant he slipped from first to fourth place. Brownlee finished sixth.

Jack Maitland Carnegie Director of Triathlon added:  "This was a fantastic performance by Alistair and a great demonstration of his resilience as he successfully managed his recovery after suffering with heat exhaustion in the London World Series event. The Grand Final was one of his main target races and victory here along with his European Championship victory and his win in the Madrid World Series race made 2010 a successful year. Next season will see the beginning of the selection process for the London Olympics so after a well earned break Alistair will be focussing on preparing to earn a place in the Olympic team. "

Later in the day Alistair's brother Jonathan Brownlee secured the Under 23 World title as he claimed a comfortable victory in Hungary.

Results:
1. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) 1:42:26
2. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:42:30
3. Steffen Justus (GER) 1:43:04
17. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:44.15

Under 23 Results:
1. J. Brownlee (GBR) 1:44.25
2. R. Sissons (AUS) 1:44.52
3. F. Loeschke (GER) 1:44.53
20. D. McNamee (GBR) 1:47.08