WTS Leeds: Elite men’s quotes

ON HIS RACE…

I had a good swim, and settled in nicely in fourth place. But I messed up my transition and that’s where I really lost the race. I couldn’t get my feet in my shoes and I was working with [Richard] Varga and [Javier] Gomez a bit, but he didn’t have the legs so I thought ‘I’m not dragging you across, I’m going to have to go for it’. So I got halfway across and Alistair said ‘come and help me’. It was a very hard day out though. The one-two finish is great but I’d prefer it to be the other way round.

ON ALISTAIR’S PERFORMANCE… 

Oh yeah, he was very strong, you’re not going to beat him on a day like today unless you’re on top form. I really messed up that first transition and then I was just catching up from there really.

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RACE…

To come and put in a performance like that is very very important. Obviously my run wasn’t the best I’ve ever done but we cycled a lot harder than anyone. So to come first and second is a good marker for Rio.

ALISTAIR BROWNLEE, GBR, 1ST

ON RACING IN LEEDS…

I can’t quite describe it really. I’ve been lucky to have had a lot of good performances in my time, obviously London is a standout highlight but you know, wow, today, that was brilliant. And I think by far the best crowd on the World Series circuit, by a long way, not even close.

ON HIS PERFORMANCE…

I think people knew I was capable of that kind of race but I’ve got another two months to get fitter and stronger. And hopefully I can be as good as I’ve ever been in a few months time. Coming out of T2 I was fairly confident that Jonny would beat me. I just got into a stride and felt good. Better than I deserved really after the last two months of training.

 ON HIS TRAINING TO DATE…

The last six weeks have been some of the hardest of my career. It’s just been a struggle, I’ve been tired so it’s just fantastic to pull it off today. I’ve just had to rest and wait it out.

JAVIER GOMEZ, ESP, 4TH

ON HIS RACE…

Physically I felt really good, had a really good swim, but a key point on the bike I couldn’t put my feet in my shoes and I missed 5metres. Suddenly I was in the middle of nowhere and I wasn’t strong enough to close the gap. Unfortunately I was only with Varga, so I knew we weren’t going to catch [the leaders] so we waited for the second group and then we just lost more and more time. But I had a really good run, I ran faster than I expected [30:43 to Alistair’s 31:10] which is good, but I’m a bit disappointed that in the key moment of the race I wasn’t strong enough, I wasn’t smart enough and I missed the group.

ON HIS FITNESS…

I’m getting better, I was better today than two weeks ago in Lisbon [the European Champs], even though two weeks ago I won the race, but I know my fitness is better. I ran faster today than two weeks ago but you can’t make mistakes in a high-level race. I made one today and I have to say the Brownlees were really strong and they performed amazingly. When they are fit, I have no doubt they [the Brownlees] are the strongest guys, they are the ones to beat and hopefully I will do better in Rio.

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