Fernando Alarza & Non Stanford score first-time 2016 wins at Discovery World Triathlon Cape Town

The third round of the 2016 ITU World Triathlon Series offered up the first sprint distance course of the season in Cape Town on Sunday, where Spain’s Fernando Alarza and Great Britain’s Non Stanford  claimed victories. It was Alarza’s first-time career WTS  title, while Stanford returned to the top of the podium for the first time since 2013. It was also the third consecutive time this year that the WTS champions were a Spanish male and a British female.

Men’s Review

It was a day of firsts for the elite men, as Spaniard Fernando Alarza earned his first-ever career World Triathlon Series win at the Discovery World Triathlon Cape Town on Sunday.

Showing no sign of weakness during the full five-kilometre run, Alarza’s victory allowed the WTS circuit to remain dominated by the Spaniards as Cape Town becomes the third consecutive race to be won by Spain.

Excited to finally reach the top of the podium, Alarza said, “A Sprint distance is good for me. I think I had the best race of my life. I am so happy because now I think I qualify for Rio finally. I am now going to train hard for Rio. Today was amazing, I was very motivated. Today I was just very good and feeling good. It was a very strong run.

Improving one position from his bronze in Gold Coast, Great Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee captured the silver medal, while the bronze went to France’s Dorain Coninx, who also earned the right to the WTS podium for the first time.

Women’s Review

For the third consecutive year the Discovery World Triathlon Cape Town event has been captured by a Great Britain woman, as Non Stanford opened up her 2016 season with a victory.

Showcasing her power in the final kilometre of the run, Stanford signaled the start of her competition year by collecting the gold and seizing the first sprint-distance WTS race of the season.

Commenting on her season-debut win Stanford said, “I came in really apprehensive, some of my friends and family told me they were going to watch me on the TV and I had to tell them they probably would not see me! But I was really shocked to be up there at the front. I was a little worried about the run because I did quite a bit of work on the bike, I thought I might pay for it, but it was just about going out there today and having fun and going through the processes. I didn’t really think about the outcome to be honest with you.

Making it onto her second WTS podium of the year was British compatriot Jodie Stimpson, who was able to get the silver medal. Finishing off the podium was Bermuda’s Flora Duffy, who dominated the first two legs of the competition, riding the whole 20-kilometre bike course by riding alone. Her bronze medal finish was enough to move her to the top of the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings.

2016 ITU World Triathlon Cape Town – Elite Men

1.	Fernando Alarza	ESP		00:54:12
2.	Jonathan Brownlee	GBR		00:54:17
3.	Dorian Coninx	FRA		00:54:23
4.	Mario Mola	ESP		00:54:33
5.	Pierre Le Corre	FRA		00:54:38
6.	Henri Schoeman	RSA		00:54:40
7.	Aurelien Raphael	FRA		00:54:48
8.	Vicente Hernandez	ESP		00:54:52
9.	Richard Varga	SVK		00:54:53
10.	Andrea Salvisberg	SUI		00:54:55

2016 ITU World Triathlon Cape Town – Elite Women

1.	Non Stanford	GBR		00:59:49
2.	Jodie Stimpson	GBR		00:59:56
3.	Flora Duffy	BER		00:59:59
4.	Anne Haug	GER		01:00:07
5.	Kirsten Kasper	USA		01:00:08
6.	Vicky Holland	GBR		01:00:15
7.	Ai Ueda	JPN		01:00:21
8.	Yurie Kato	JPN		01:00:26
9.	Sarah True	USA		01:00:33
10.	Kaidi Kivioja	EST		01:00:34