Gwen Jorgensen makes history in Chicago with sixth WTS win

The USA’s Gwen Jorgensen took another victory at WTS Chicago last weekend, giving her prime position in the series rankings, while a silver for Helen Jenkins (GBR) sees her move ahead of Jodie Stimpson on series points.

With lots of family and friends out in support, Jorgensen pushed hard during the swim but was dropped from the lead bike group early on due to a furious pace driven by Jenkins, Kirsten Sweetland (CAN), Emma Moffatt (AUS), and Nicky Samuels (NZL).

Their advantage over the chase pack increased to 66secs by T2, with Moffat charging ahead in the lead. With just 2.5km to go, Jenkins and Ide remained strong out front but Jorgensen slowly reeled them in with every foot stroke, overtaking both on the last lap.

This latest win means that Jorgensen has become the first woman ever to win six WTS titles, overtaking Moffat and Paula Findlay (CAN) who each have five.

Gwen Jorgensen and Helen Jenkins have now overtaken Britain’s Jodie Stimpson on the WTS rankings, with Jorgensen top (3424pts) followed by Jenkins (2666pts) and Stimpson (2396pts).

Gomez grabs fourth WTS title of 2014 (so far)

In the men’s race on Sunday, Ben Kanute (USA) led the men out of the water with series leader Javier Gomez (ESP) tucked just behind, giving him an optimal position to assume the lead once out on the bike. A midsized group got away on the first lap, but their pace wasn’t enough to hold off the cycling danger of Tom Davison (NZL) who pulled the chase up to make a large 33-man lead group by the second lap.

That move got Mario Mola (ESP) and Ryan Sissons (NZL) back in the game, while South Africa’s Richard Murray fell behind in the chase. Davison opted to put the hammer down on lap five of eight, with Cameron Good (AUS) following suit and the two athletes maintained their break for the final three laps.

Once out of T2 though neither could keep their lead up for long, with the Spanish duo of Mola and Gomez hunting them down by the end of the first run lap followed by João Pereira (POR). Gomez kicked on with an extra burst of speed and left Mola for dead with two run laps remaining, before cruising home in the Chicago sun.

With his latest win, Gomez stays top of the WTS leaderboard with 3742pts, followed by Mario Mola (3322pts) and Jonny Brownlee (2652pts).

Final Results – Elite Women

1.

Gwen Jorgensen

USA

01:55:33

2.

Helen Jenkins

GBR

01:55:53

3.

Juri Ide

JPN

01:56:00

4.

Annamaria Mazzetti

ITA

01:56:56

5.

Charlotte Bonin

ITA

01:57:04

6.

Emma Moffatt

AUS

01:57:08

7.

Kirsten Sweetland

CAN

01:57:08

8.

Vendula Frintova

CZE

01:57:18

9.

Lisa Perterer

AUT

01:57:25

10.

Charlotte McShane

AUS

01:58:03

Array Array

Final Results – Elite Men

1.

Javier Gomez Noya

ESP

01:47:21

2.

Joao Pereira

POR

01:47:29

3.

Mario Mola

ESP

01:47:40

4.

Dmitry Polyanskiy

RUS

01:48:00

5.

Fernando Alarza

ESP

01:48:05

6.

Alessandro Fabian

ITA

01:48:11

7.

Adam Bowden

GBR

01:48:16

8.

Brendan Sexton

AUS

01:48:28

9.

Alexander Bryukhankov

RUS

01:48:45

10.

Sven Riederer

SUI

01:48:52

Array Array

(Main image: Delly Carr/ITU)

Were you watching WTS Chicago last weekend? What did you think of Jorgensen’s history-making win? Let us know in the comments below!