Jodie Stimpson wins WTS Auckland after canny bike breakaway

Britain's Jodie Stimpson got her WTS season off to a flying start with victory in Auckland this morning, taking first place in the women's race after a shrewd bike breakaway and hard run that helped her finish 25secs ahead of second-placed Anne Haug (GER).

The Brit was part of a breakaway group that also included her Kiwi training partners Nicky Samuels and Kate McIlroy, gaining a 35sec lead on the rest of the field out of T2. She then turned on the gas and by 1.25km was running on her own and out of reach. Further back, Helen Jenkins continued her remarkable return to competitive racing by taking bronze.

Stimpson said afterwards that training with Samuels had given her an insight into how the race might play out, and made a decision to go with her and McIlroy when they broke: "I knew that this was their [Commonwealths] selection race as well so I was like, 'I can't let those two go, I'm not going to ease up, I've got to get there,' and that was definitely the defining moment in the race."

@heljinx "Oh my god, I'm so happy. I didn't expect to be on the podium today but I'm so happy… Jodie did phenomenal today."

— 220Triathlon (@220Triathlon) April 6, 2014

In the men's race, Javier Gomez (ESP) and Jonny Brownlee (GBR) picked up where they left off at WTS London last September with a tough head-to-head battle that saw the Spaniard eventually win out again, breaking away in the closing stages of the 10km run and earning himself enough time to jog to the finish line around 20secs ahead.

Jonny afterwards paid tribute to his rival's early-season form, saying: “It’s always going to be a similar race [with Gomez]. It’s the first race of the season today and it actually really killed me, he had more than me today, he’s obviously in great shape."

(Main image: Delly Carr/ITU)

Women's results (1.5km/40km/10km):

Jodie Stimpson

GBR