Spain’s Mario Mola and Vicky Holland of Great Britain continued their dominance of the course at William Hawrelak Park on Friday, both winning gold at the ITU World Triathlon Series Edmonton.
For Mola, it was the second straight victory and fourth time finishing on the podium in the men’s elite race in Edmonton. Holland also won the women’s elite race at this event in 2015 and finished fifth two years ago.
“I’ve got really strong memories of here in Edmonton,” said Holland, 32. “It’s definitely a favourite course of mine.”
Mola finished in 51:16 to hold off Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt, who came in three seconds behind the winner. Jacob Birtwhistle of Australia came third with a time of 51:23.
“I had quite a good swim, so even though I had to work really hard for the last couple laps, I managed to stay in the front group,” Mola said. “There was some guys trying to pull away and get a gap, but with this course it’s a matter of trying to be at the front but at the same time saving the best for the run because it was a very tough run.”
Crossing the finish line in a time of 56:52, Holland led a British invasion that saw three of her compatriots place in the top five. Australian Ashleigh Gentle was second at 57:03, followed by Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown, Jessica Learmonth and Jodie Simpson.
“We’ve got such strength and depth with our British girls, just making the team is hard, so I’ve got to keep pushing on,” said Holland, a veteran of two Olympic Games.
“I’ve always said success breeds success.”
Mola maintained his spot atop the World Series rankings and moved closer towards winning a third straight WTS title. He finished first for the third time in 2018, following victories in Hamburg and Yokohama earlier this season.
“When you race in the same place and you have good races and good performances, you’ve got to think that you’re going to have it again,” the 28-year-old said. “I started the race thinking I had to give my best and today was very tough, very challenging, but luckily I finished up front.”
With a time of 52:40, Victoria’s Matthew Sharpe placed 17th and was the only Canadian to finish the men’s elite race. Tyler Mislawchuk of Oak Bluff, Man., and Hamilton native Taylor Forbes bowed out in the second transition and bike portions, respectively.
In the women’s elite race, Carp, Ont., native Joanna Brown finished 23rd, completing the course in 59:59. The other Canadian, Amelie Kretz of Blainville, Que., didn’t finish following an incident on the bike.
The day started well for Canada, with Calgary’s Daniel Stefan and Jessica Tuomela of Sault Ste. Marie winning gold in World Paratriathlon Series competition.
Also Friday, the Alberta government announced $3.5 million funding for Edmonton hosting the WTS Grand Final in 2020. The five-day event will include 3,500 competitors from 70 countries. It was last held at William Hawrelak Park in 2014.