Alex Yee, Georgia Taylor-Brown top elites at World Triathlon Championship Series in Montreal
Olympian Mislawchuk finishes 25th; Legault finishes 12th as top Canadian woman
Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown of Britain were the cream of the elite field taking part in Saturday's World Triathlon Sprint and Relay Championships at the World Triathlon Championship Series in the heart of old Montreal.
Yee won the men's race in 21 minutes, 55 seconds, which was three seconds ahead of Hayden Wilde of New Zealand. Leo Bergere of France was third in 21:59.
Fifty-seven men finished the elite race on Saturday, including Canadians Charles Paquet in 19th, Tyler Mislawchuk in 25th and Jeremy Briand in 33rd. Mislawchuk represented Canada at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, finishing 15th in the men's triathlon.
"That one meant a lot," admitted a fired up Yee after the win.
"After a crash you can lose a bit of belief and the last two weeks have been hard but I came in here more fired up than ever. That may have played against me the first few races but after the last race I only just made it through and I just wanted to strip it back and enjoy it.
"Another great race with some great guys, it means a lot. I found my flow at the end. I'd been struggling through the rounds and my run has almost been a weakness but that last 100m I felt amazing and the crowd roaring me on was amazing."
Elite men's podium celebrations in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WTCSMontreal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WTCSMontreal</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/Lixsanyee?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Lixsanyee</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/HWilde1997?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HWilde1997</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LeoBergere?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LeoBergere</a> 🥇🥈🥉<a href="https://t.co/dToUk2OmRc">https://t.co/dToUk2OmRc</a> (7-Day-Free-Trial now available) <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Triathlon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Triathlon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeYourExtraordinary?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BeYourExtraordinary</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BritTri?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BritTri</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TriathlonNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TriathlonNZ</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/FFTRI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FFTRI</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/triathlonlive?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@triathlonlive</a> <a href="https://t.co/nISopjHytW">pic.twitter.com/nISopjHytW</a>
—@worldtriathlonTaylor-Brown took the women's race in 24 minutes, three seconds, finishing ahead of runner-up Cassandre Beaugrand of France (24:07) and Britain's Beth Potter (24:15).
Emy Legault finished 12th as the top Canadian, while compatriot Dominika Jamnicky finished 28th.
It had been a huge effort in rising temperatures, but it was Taylor-Brown who broke away on the final bike leg with Potter and Beaugrand for company, and it became a chase for the podium positions, WTCS Leeds champion Beaugrand able to pass Potter late on to take silver.
"It's not easy when you're at the front and it's not fun if you're silent so just talking to each other and trying to motivate Cass [Beaugrand] and Beth [Potter] today and it paid off. It was about staying safe for the first two and emptying the tank on the final leg."
With files from CBC Sports
