It’s a day for the Abu Dhabi running team. Shortly after Beth Potter won her first World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) title, another triathlete with a running background, Alex Yee, was on his way to the men’s title. The Olympic silver medalist has undergone a sea change in his last appearance in Abu Dhabi – last year he and Hayden Wilde were expected to fight for the world title in the final in Abu Dhabi, but France’s Leo Berger won dramatically while world champion.
This time, however, Yee was in a strong position to exit the water behind swim leader Vincent Luis (France), with Wilde another 15 seconds behind. Canadian Tyler Mislawchuk was able to bridge a breakaway group of 10 that included another Frenchman, Dorian Coninx, when Wilde was knocked out by a draw when he came out of T1. The breakout failed to keep going, though, and soon a large crowd was cruising around the Yas Marina circuit.
This has people scrambling to get things out of T2. Mislawchuk scuffled near the front row but was given a 10-second penalty for not putting his goggles in the trash after the swim, dashing his hopes of a top finish.
Yee would charge up the hill in the closing stages of the race to seal victory, with Portugal’s Vasco Villa finishing second and Brazil’s Manoel Messias on the podium.
| result: elite men | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | alex yu | GBR | 00:52:53 |
| 2. | Vasco Biraca | go through | 00:52:59 |
| 3. | Manuel Mercias | bra | 00:53:06 |
| 4. | vincent louis | from | 00:53:11 |
| 5. | dorian conix | from | 00:53:14 |
Mislawchuk finished 12th, returning from an 18-month injury.
You can see the full results here.