But the London 2012 bronze medallist didn't believe he could overtake his Olympic champion brother.

"I thought it was going to be Alistair's day - I thought I'd never beat him," Jonathan said.

"He's gone into this pretty unprepared but I knew I had to give everything.

"He was hanging on through the whole run.

"Alistair doesn't like to run behind people, he likes to run upfront.

"I got to the last bit and he got past me.

"I was pretty feeling comfortable.

"I was thinking the whole way round I couldn't remember if I was meant to finish on the right hand side or the left hand side but it was all good."

(Left to right) Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee finished second and first respectively in Hamburg, while Javier Gómez claimed bronze

The Brownlee brothers dominated the course, with company from Spanish rival Javier Gomez, who finished in third after being shoulder-to-shoulder with the brothers on the last kilometre of the run, in this, the first time the three Olympic medallists had competed against each other since London 2012.

And it took a late burst of pace from Jonathan to cross the line in first place.

"I think I went a bit too early on that last corner," said Alistair

"I was a bit confident but Jonny's a clever old sod and he kept a bit back."

Gómez retains the top spot on the World Tour rankings with his third-placed finish in Hamburg.

Meanwhile, the women's race saw home athlete Anne Haug give the crowd something to cheer about as she powered her way to victory.

She finished in 57 minutes and 21 seconds, ahead of second-place Non Stanford of Britain in 57:35, who was one second ahead of compatriot Jodie Stimpson in third.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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