Superiority of Gomez evident once again as Brownlee takes second

The Spaniard outsprinted Brownlee to win his third world title in London last September and has been comfortably the stronger in the first two races this year.

The Cape Town race panned out very similarly to the first outing in Auckland two weeks ago, with the pair sticking closely together through the swim and bike and on the early stages of the run.

But Gomez pulled away on the third lap of the 10 kilometres to win by 19 seconds from Brownlee, with Russia’s Dmitry Polyanskiy taking third.

Brownlee conceded he had been beaten by the better man, saying: “I was even more impressed this time.

“In Auckland I let him kind of run the race at the front. Here I thought I would change it up a bit but every time he went for it, I kind of counter-attacked and then he counter-attacked again and dropped me. It’s as simple as that.

“He was very impressive today. He was strong on the bike, strong in the swim and then on the run. He was a lot better than me on the run, so well done to him.”

Britain’s Aaron Harris claimed his best world series result in seventh.

Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee missed the race with a slight calf strain, but is expected to compete in the next round in Yokohama in three weeks’ time.

On Saturday, British duo Jodie Stimpson and Helen Jenkins secured a one-two finish.

The cold conditions meant the swim leg was shortened to just one lap, with Lucy Hall pushing the British women on to help the lead group of 12 establish an advantage through the cycle, which saw them open a two-minute gap heading into the final transition.

Stimpson and Jenkins then hit the front on the run and it was Stimpson who finishing strongly over the final kilometre to record a second straight series win. American Gwen Jorgensen was third. The victory for Stimpson cements her place at the top of the world rankings, with compatriot Jenkins second.

“When Helen passed me it was all about trying to hang on,” said Stimpson.

“I tried to break her going on to the last lap and I couldn’t, so I sat back behind and then I gave it all I had got and I managed to come out on top,” said Stimpson.