ON RACING IN LEEDS…

Basically it was incredible. The support is better than anything else in the world. It’s a good, honest triathlon course. We wanted that and that’s what it was.To have four or five-deep the whole round, it was just incredible. It was the perfect triathlon course for spectators. People come out to watch it on not the finest day.

ON HIS RACE…

I had a good swim, and settled in nicely in fourth place. But I messed up my transition and that’s where I really lost the race. I couldn’t get my feet in my shoes and I was working with [Richard] Varga and [Javier] Gomez a bit, but he didn’t have the legs so I thought ‘I’m not dragging you across, I’m going to have to go for it’. So I got halfway across and Alistair said ‘come and help me’. It was a very hard day out though. The one-two finish is great but I’d prefer it to be the other way round.

ON ALISTAIR’S PERFORMANCE… 

Oh yeah, he was very strong, you’re not going to beat him on a day like today unless you’re on top form. I really messed up that first transition and then I was just catching up from there really.

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ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RACE…

To come and put in a performance like that is very very important. Obviously my run wasn’t the best I’ve ever done but we cycled a lot harder than anyone. So to come first and second is a good marker for Rio.

ALISTAIR BROWNLEE, GBR, 1ST

ON RACING IN LEEDS…

I can’t quite describe it really. I’ve been lucky to have had a lot of good performances in my time, obviously London is a standout highlight but you know, wow, today, that was brilliant. And I think by far the best crowd on the World Series circuit, by a long way, not even close.

ON HIS PERFORMANCE…

I think people knew I was capable of that kind of race but I’ve got another two months to get fitter and stronger. And hopefully I can be as good as I’ve ever been in a few months time. Coming out of T2 I was fairly confident that Jonny would beat me. I just got into a stride and felt good. Better than I deserved really after the last two months of training.

 ON HIS TRAINING TO DATE…

The last six weeks have been some of the hardest of my career. It’s just been a struggle, I’ve been tired so it’s just fantastic to pull it off today. I’ve just had to rest and wait it out.

JAVIER GOMEZ, ESP, 4TH

ON HIS RACE…

Physically I felt really good, had a really good swim, but a key point on the bike I couldn’t put my feet in my shoes and I missed 5metres. Suddenly I was in the middle of nowhere and I wasn’t strong enough to close the gap. Unfortunately I was only with Varga, so I knew we weren’t going to catch [the leaders] so we waited for the second group and then we just lost more and more time. But I had a really good run, I ran faster than I expected [30:43 to Alistair’s 31:10] which is good, but I’m a bit disappointed that in the key moment of the race I wasn’t strong enough, I wasn’t smart enough and I missed the group.

ON HIS FITNESS…

I’m getting better, I was better today than two weeks ago in Lisbon [the European Champs], even though two weeks ago I won the race, but I know my fitness is better. I ran faster today than two weeks ago but you can’t make mistakes in a high-level race. I made one today and I have to say the Brownlees were really strong and they performed amazingly. When they are fit, I have no doubt they [the Brownlees] are the strongest guys, they are the ones to beat and hopefully I will do better in Rio.

ON HOW HE FEELS NOW COMPARED TO 2012…

It’s different I guess but this time I’ve had more problems at the beginning of the year, maybe I’m not as fit as back then, but I’m improving really fast and I’m feeling good. I was quite competitive today but unfortunately it wasn’t where I had to be. 

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Image: Dave Pearce

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