Jodie Stimpson wins opening round of World Triathlon Series

Great Britain's Jodie Stimpson was an impressive winner in the opening round of the ITU Triathlon World Series in Auckland, New Zealand.

Stimpson, 25, finished 25 seconds ahead of last year's winner Anne Haug of Germany, with Wales' two-time world champion Helen Jenkins third.

"I'm chuffed with today," said Stimpson. "I couldn't be happier."

In the men's event, Britain's Jonny Brownlee, 23, was second to defending champion Javier Gomez of Spain.

Brownlee, whose older brother Alistair missed the event to rest his Achilles, finished 20 seconds behind Gomez, who completed the course in one hour 54 minutes 13 seconds.

After closely matching each other on the 1.5km swim and 40km cycle, the duo were together until the closing stages of the 10km run, when Gomez, 31, broke away.

Brownlee said: "It's the first race of the season and it really killed me. He had more than me; he's obviously in great shape."

Australian Aaron Royle was third, 76 seconds behind Brownlee, while Britain's Grant Sheldon was 12th on his Series debut.

Earlier, Stimpson produced a well-judged race, showing her fitness on a hilly course for the cycle and running legs.

The English athlete, who finished second in the Series to Wales' Non Stanford last year, clocked two hours eight minutes 34 seconds.

Jenkins finished strongly to take bronze in her first World Series race since returning from a back injury.

The 30-year-old has been sidelined since finishing fifth at London 2012.

She said: "I've been picking up the training really gradually and I've had a great team around me helping me to get back, but I didn't expect to be on the podium."

British Triathlon performance director Brendan Purcell said: "It's a promising start to the season. I'm unbelievably happy to see Helen Jenkins finish on the podium."

The World Triathlon Series is made up of eight events, culminating in August's Grand Final in Canada, with the next round in Cape Town on 26-27 April.