Andrea Hewitt again raced with superb consistency in finishing 6th at the latest round of the World Triathlon Series in Leeds overnight, in a race won in scintillating fashion by world number one Gwen Jorgensen (USA).
Hewitt showed her class with her ability to secure good points on a day that she described as ‘not my best’ as the WTS raced in Leeds for the first time, with Jorgensen running down a 90 second deficit off the bike to take yet another win, from Flora Duffy (BER) and Vicky Holland (GBR).
“It was a nice course, I enjoyed it. I didn’t have my best day today but I was happy to be out there. It was difficult to understand the nature of the course at the beginning, we swam outside the town in a lake and it was hard to know the course in terms of the turns but once we got into town I enjoyed the technical parts. The crowds were amazing, I had so many people cheering my name, it was really cool.”
Hewitt sits in fourth place on the World Rankings list after her performance. Fellow Kiwi Rebecca Spence finished 23rd while Anneke Jenkins withdrew during the bike leg on her return to racing at the top level.
In the men’s race Ryan Sissons finished 13th to consolidate his position at 12 in the 2016 Columbia Threadneedle World Rankings. The race was won almost predictably by a Brownlee, with Alistair edging younger brother Jonny for the gold medal as the two raced in their home town and showed their cards for the first time this year ahead of the Rio Olympic Games. Australian Aaron Royle won the bronze.
Meanwhile at the Weert European Cup race, Tayler Reid (Gisborne) finished a creditable 16th on his return to racing after months out of the sport with a broken arm. Cooper Rand (Auckland) was 30th in the same race.
