Any thoughts that the Brownlee brothers might have the slightest chink in their armour with a non-drafting 100km bike ride to contend with against some top quality 70.3 and Ironman competition, quickly evaporated in the Abu Dhabi sun, as they cruised to joint victory in the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon Short Course event this morning.

First out of the water in the company of their good friend Rhys Davey, the Olympic Gold and Bronze medal winners were away and clear by the time they reached the Yas Marina F1™circuit, the elder brother setting the pace for most of the race, as their pre-race plan worked to perfection. Indeed, such was their pace that they actually increased further their swim lead during the bike leg on renowned cyclists such as Bart Aernouts (BEL) and Ronnie Schildknecht (SUI), starting the 10km run more than four minutes clear.

With a big lead, hot conditions and a long season ahead, there would be no ITU-like fireworks on the run from Jonny and Alistair, for whom a 35:30 10km was a comfortable effort, the boys crossing the line together with a Yorkshire flag held between them, Switzerland's Ruedi Wild completing the podium.

Alistair Brownlee said;

"Jonny and I both got a good lead out of the swim and we just concentrated and stayed focused on biking as hard as we could. We managed to keep going strong on the Yas Marina Circuit, gaining a strong lead before the run leg which really helped us break away and take the lead."

In his first year in Abu Dhabi, Jonny Brownlee, added;

"Everything in Abu Dhabi is big and impressive and you can say the same about this event! I've done the same events for 4-5 years now and so it's really cool to go somewhere so completely different. Where else can you ride on a F1 circuit and bike in the pits and chicanes? The Yas Marina Circuit was a highlight and, due to the smooth tarmac, allowed me to get up to 65km/h on my bike which I really enjoyed."

With just five Elites in the ladies event, the swim was tightly packed with just Lisa Marangon (AUS) losing a minute. Germany's Svenja Bazlen quickly re-wrote that script on the bike, building up a huge a decisive lead, and by T2 the race was all but over with Luxford holding off a fast finishing Marangon to take second place.

Abu Dhabi International Triathlon 2013 - Short Course
1.5km Swim - 100km Bike - 10km Run - Saturday 15th March 2014