Alistair Brownlee wins World Triathlon Series race in San Diego

Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee started his 2013 World Triathlon Series campaign with an easy win in San Diego.

Brownlee missed the series opener in Auckland but put in an impressive performance in the United States.

He beat second-placed South African Richard Murray by 20 seconds, with Olympic silver medallist Javier Gomez finishing eighth.

"It's good to have had an injury-free winter. I enjoyed that, it was great," Brownlee, 24, said.

Brownlee, who won in Abu Dhabi in February, added: "I've only done six weeks of training.

"I did Abu Dhabi six weeks ago and I pushed on since then. That's all I've done in terms of really meaningful work on the track."

Brownlee set a fast pace in the swim and broke away on his own in the 40km bike ride.

He was never challenged in the 10km run and walked over the finishing line to complete a comfortable victory.

Portugal's Joao Silva took the number one world ranking by coming third, while Briton Adam Bowden finished sixth, equalling his best World Series result.

Brownlee is set to run a 10km track race in California next weekend and is definitely taking part in the World Series event in Madrid on 2 June but has not ruled out racing in Yokohama on 11 May.