Non Stanford surprised even herself after securing her first World Triathlon Series title for more than three years with victory in Hamburg.
The 30-year-old raced away from the pack in treacherous conditions on the 5km run to finish in a time of 59 minutes and 24 seconds ahead of France’s Cassandre Beaugrand and America’s Summer Rappaport.
In the men’s race, Olympic silver medallist Jonny Brownlee pulled out with a mechanical problem after suffering a big crash on the bike in extremely wet conditions.
“I really didn’t expect to do that,” said Stanford, now fifth in the overall standings.
“Everything has been going well and training has been really consistent, but I’ve been off the podium quite a bit in recent years and I was trying to edge my way back.
“To come away with a win today is fantastic and credit to all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes, and not just from myself.
“The conditions were really nasty. My saddle went down at one point, so I felt as if I was riding a clown bike and my wheels kept sliding everywhere. We were trying to be cautious and I think most of the girls were being sensible, but my aim was just to get off the bike in one piece.”
Georgia Taylor-Brown remains third in the overall standings after she finished fifth while fellow Brits Vicky Holland and Sophie Coldwell finished eighth and 13th respectively.
Tom Bishop and Alex Yee were also involved in crashes in the men’s race and eventually finished in 38th and 43rd place respectively. Sportsbeat 2019