Changing Lanes

Alistair and Jonny Brownlee have been the poster boys of short-course triathlon for the last decade. But with Alistair’s move into the long-course arena and the pair currently beset with injury woes, what’s next for the sport’s star siblings? We caught up with them postLeeds WTCS to report on their current health, their changing dynamic and Jonny's reflections on that that bone-breaking crash…

- Tim Heming

The challenging course in Roundhay Park, with a city centre finish in its early years, has set the backdrop for thrilling World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) races in Leeds. It has also built on the city’s legacy as the home of the Brownlee brothers. Almost every year a race has taken place, one or both of the Brownlees – Alistair and Jonny – has hit the headlines.

Sparks seem to fly whenever a Brownlee is on the start line in Leeds and the fireworks are even louder in front of a partisan home crowd. These races have also become a microcosm of their careers: dominating from the front in the early years, becoming more frayed at the edges as time wears on.

A glorious first race in 2016 couldn’t have gone more to plan. Alistair, returning from injury just two months before the Rio Olympics, engineered a four-man breakaway with Jonny to distance arch-rival Javier Gómez before the brothers ran to a one-two finish. Alistair took the tape and it was a sign of intent for the Olympic Games that followed in August where they repeated the feat.

“Unbelievable!” was Alistair’s response in the aftermath to Leeds. “I have said that the Olympics was the best race I have ever raced in, but now I think that just beat it. The run was absolutely phenomenal, by far the best World Series there has ever been.”

DICING WITH INJURY

It was a similar picture the next year, where it was just the two of them holding on in front on the bike. And it was just long enough to reach the technical section of the city centre that made it more tricky for the chasing pack to catch. Again, Alistair first, Jonny second.