By Duncan Mackay

Alistair_Brownlee_wins_in_Kitzhubel_June_18_2011_croppedJune 18 - Britain's Alistair Brownlee recorded his second successive Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series victory in dominant style in very wet conditions in Kitzbühelthis afternoon to move to the top of the rankings.


The 2009 world champion led virtually from start to finish, emerging from the swim first and then forming part of a three-man breakaway on the bike with British team-mate Stuart Hayes and Brazil's Reinaldo Colucci.

The trio began the run 30 seconds ahead of the field and from there there was only going to be one winner, with Brownlee immediately opening up a gap and cruising through the rest of the 10 kilometres.

The 23-year-old, who was similarly dominant in Madrid two weeks ago, finished 44 seconds ahead of Russia's Alexander Brukhankov with Switzerland's Sven Riederer in third.

Britain's Will Clarke narrowly missed out on a podium place in fourth while Hayes, a surprise winner in Kitzbuhel last year, eventually finished 12th.

Brownlee's victory took him to the head of the World Championship Series standings ahead of Brukhankov, reigning world champion Javier Gomez and the Yorkshireman's younger brother Jonathan, who both chose to miss the race.

Alistair_Brownlee_on_podium_in_Kitzbuhel_June_18_2011
It is the second time Brownlee has won Kitzbühel, he won in 2009 before finishing 40th last year when he was still recovering from injury.

Afterwards, Brownlee said the conditions had not worried him - except when he went to slow down.

"It wasn't all difficult to be honest, I don't think the conditions had that much of effect on me until the last couple of laps of the run," he said.

"I knew I had a decent lead and I knew I was racing next weekend [at the 2011 European Championships at Pontevedra in Spain] so I kind of didn't push on too much and I think that kind of hurt, and I think maybe I should have pushed on, I might have stayed a bit warmer."

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