World Triathlon Championship Series: Great Britain's Alex Yee misses out on title
- Published
It is the second year in a row Yee has led the standings before the final race but missed out on the title
World Triathlon Championship Series Finals |
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Venue: Pontevedra, Spain Date: 23-24 September |
Coverage: Watch the men's race on Saturday from 16:00 BST on BBC iPlayer & the BBC Sport website and the women's race on Sunday from 15:15 BST on Red Button, BBC iPlayer & the BBC Sport website. |
Great Britain's Alex Yee missed out on the world triathlon title after a disappointing race at the series finale in Pontevedra, Spain.
France's Dorian Coninx won the race in a sprint finish to become world champion.
Yee fell behind in the swim and, unable to recover, finished 29th in the race and fifth in the overall standings.
Britain's Beth Potter could claim the world title with victory in the women's race on Sunday.
Yee had a series lead of 57 points over New Zealand's Hayden Wilde going into the race and a spot on the podium - provided it was ahead of Wilde - would have been enough to secure him a first world title.
A series of errors and time penalties from Olympic bronze medallist Wilde meant he finished ninth in the race and second in the overall standings, allowing France's Coninx to overtake both him and Yee in the standings to claim a maiden title.
Wilde finished second in the rankings.
Yee had recorded wins in Abu Dhabi, Cagliari and Paris as well as a bronze in Hamburg to become the series leader, with 1,250 points on offer for the winner of the race in Pontevedra.
Following the 1,500m swim Yee came out of the water one minute behind the leaders and was unable to close the gap.
He continued to struggle on the bike, falling into the third group - which trailed by more than two minutes - before chipping away at the gap on the 10km run, his favoured discipline.
But, despite a spirited effort, Yee finished the race well outside the points.
It is the second consecutive year a Frenchman has won the title after Leo Bergere claimed victory in 2022 ahead of Yee, who came agonisingly close to victory but took silver.
Britain's Potter takes part in the women's race on Sunday where victory will crown her world champion, while a podium finish would secure the 31-year-old a place at next year's Olympics.
Both Yee and Potter won the Paris 2024 triathlon test event in August.