Alex Yee was left to rue a cruel slice of bad luck after a snapped chain brought a premature end to one of his most encouraging performances of the season at the Supertri Pro Series Final in Jersey.

The Olympic champion had worked his way right into contention in a race featuring two of his biggest rivals, Matt Hauser and Hayden Wilde, only for his challenge to end midway through the second of three stages.

It denied Yee the chance to play a part in what developed into a thrilling finale, eventually won in emphatic fashion by Hauser from Wilde.

But while the result sheet will simply show a DNF next to Yee’s name, there was plenty for the Brit to take from his performance ahead of the WTCS Grand Final in Pontevedra.

‘I really felt quite good’

Yee initially found himself a little way down the order during a frantic opening stage in Jersey.

He was 12th and 9.44 seconds off the front early on the first bike leg, but steadily worked his way through the field as the race began to come back together.

And by the end of the opening run Yee had surged all the way up to second, with Wilde third and Hauser fourth.

It was the showdown many had hoped for, with three of the biggest names in men’s short-course triathlon all firmly in contention.

Things remained incredibly tight through the second swim, with just seven seconds covering a lead group comprising Csongor Lehmann, Hauser, Seth Rider, Mitch Kolkman, Yee, Wilde and Luke Willian.

But midway through the following bike leg, Yee suddenly disappeared from the timing screens.

The reason soon became apparent when he rolled into transition with a snapped chain, bringing his race to an abrupt end through no fault of his own.

Yee nevertheless took the setback firmly on the chin.

“Yeah, just a little bit of bad luck,” he said afterwards. “Just didn’t quite go to plan, obviously.

“But these things happen and I’ll be back to race in the future. It was an amazing event, amazing atmosphere and just a shame I couldn’t be part of that end bit of the race because I really felt quite good going into it.

“I felt like I was within the race, and it’s probably been a long time since I felt like that.

“So it’s a massive honour to race with, in my opinion, the best guys in the world and hopefully put on the best show possible. But sadly I couldn’t be there at the end. It’s all good.”

Hauser gets his swagger back

What happened after Yee’s exit only reinforced the quality of the company he had been keeping.

Hauser eventually powered away on the final 1.6km run, using the Short Chute he had earned right at the start of the race to further increase his advantage before taking the $100,000 first prize.

The Australian crossed the line in 52:06, seven seconds ahead of Wilde, with Kolkman completing the podium another four seconds back.

It was an impressive response from Hauser after a bike crash had compromised his race at WTCS Weihai just a week earlier.

“I was on from the start,” explained Hauser. “I know with this Enduro Supertri format, it’s just really important to stay in the race and no matter how hard it gets in the early stages, you can always come back and pull it together.

“I just tried to measure myself in the first two stages and then try and get a bit of a gap on the lads.

“Weihai last week for me wasn’t that good and wasn’t a reflection of the work I put in, so it’s good to get my swagger back this weekend.”

Wilde encouraged ahead of Pontevedra

There was encouragement for Wilde too.

The New Zealander acknowledged that he felt “a bit rusty” on his return to this style of racing but was delighted with second place after what he described as a disappointing short-course season.

“Honestly, it’s actually really nice to be back,” he said.

“I had a really disappointing season on the short-course side, so this gives me a bit of confidence.

“Matty was impressive out there today, but for myself I was actually really comfortable on the swim. The bike was really easy.

“It’s nice to be back and I’m actually really, really happy with this one.”

And that sets things up nicely for another fascinating meeting at the WTCS Grand Final in Pontevedra.

Neither Yee nor Wilde can now lift the world title in Spain, so the championship battle will be decided elsewhere.

But after a season in which their paths have rarely crossed at the sharp end of a major short-course race, Jersey offered a tantalising glimpse of what could happen when they meet again.

This time it was Hauser who took the spoils, Wilde who chased him home and sheer bad luck which prevented Yee from discovering what he could do over the decisive final stage.

The DNF won’t tell Yee much.

His performance before it just might.