Olympic Games triathlon gold medal favourite Alex Yee extended his winning streak in 2024, as the Loughborough-based pro took the tape at the Europe Triathlon Cup in Kitzbuhel.
Racing over the sprint distance, Yee took a comfortable victory over a strong domestic field, progressing through the semi-finals in Austria before taking the win.
With just over six weeks to go until the individual race at the Paris Olympic Games, the Tokyo silver medalist has now picked up wins over the super-sprint, sprint and standard distance format in 2024.
Short but sweet for Yee
Winning his semi-final by a handful of seconds over a field full of rising stars, Yee raised his game to take the tape in the final, beating Italian Euan De Nigro by 11 seconds after running away from the competition.
The victory comes just three weeks after Yee prevailed in a dramatic head-to-head with long time rival Hayden Wilde, where the British star kept just enough in his locker to win in a final sprint finish at WTCS Cagliari.
Earlier in May, Yee had again come out on top against Wilde, this time at a French Grand Prix race in Frejus, where the Londoner split 13:29 for the approximately 5km course.
With both men missing from the start list for WTCS Hamburg, it appears that the pair will next go head-to-head on the biggest stage in Paris, as they prepare to better their respective silver and bronze medals from Tokyo.
Yee a worthy Olympic favourite
Yee had cemented his position as favourite for glory in Paris with a brilliant 2023 season which included a breathtaking success in the Olympic Games Test Event in the French capital. He also registered WTCS victories in Abu Dhabi and Cagliari.
The now 26-year-old star has matured into an incredible talent since really bursting onto the global stage in 2021 – first by clinching an Olympic berth by winning WTCS Leeds, and then by chasing home Kristian Blummenfelt to claim silver in Tokyo.
It is Kiwi Wilde who is expected to provide the biggest threat to Yee’s golden bid in Paris, while Blummenfelt has struggled so far to regain his short-course brilliant after dropping back down again from his incredible long-course exploits.
