Alistair returns from injury in winning style (From Ilkley Gazette)

Alaistair returns from injury in winning style

10:14am Thursday 14th June 2012 in Sport

World champion Alistair Brownlee marked his first race back from injury with victory at the Blenheim Triathlon.

The 24-year-old from Bramhope, one of Britain’s best hopes for Olympic gold this summer, had not raced since winning the world title in Beijing last year after tearing his Achilles in February.

But he has been back in full training for a few weeks and showed he is in good shape as he and brother Jonathan jogged to the finish line together on the day they were both confirmed as part of a six-strong British team for the Olympics.

Alistair will compete in his first World Triathlon Series race of the season in Kitzbuhel in two weeks’ time and he was relieved to come through Saturday’s race unscathed.

He said of his lay-off: “In an ideal world I would have had no problems and trained through all winter and be as fit as a fiddle.

“But it’s happened and there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’ve just got to train as hard as I can.

“It’s good to be back racing. When you’ve had an injury you’re never quite sure how it’s going to res-pond.

“You can train on it as much as you like but racing is that little bit different, so it’s nice to come and do a race and it be all right.”

Twenty-two-year-old Jonathan said: “It’s Alistair’s first race for a long time so it’s nice to see him back.”

Jonathan has taken on the mantle in Alistair’s ab-sence, winning World Series races in San Diego and Madrid, and the pair are now firmly established as the best in the world with the London Olympics fast approaching.