By Gary Anderson

August 25 - Alistair Brownlee in action in Stockholm during the WTS eventBritain's Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee claimed his third International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Series win of 2013 ahead of Spain's Javier Gomez and younger brother Jonathan, to set up a mouth-watering clash at the end-of-season Grand Final in London next month.

The Brownlee brothers now sit in first and second place on the world rankings with 25-year-old Alistair 55 points clear of 23-year-old Jonathan, while Gomez is a further 65 points back in third place.

In a repeat of the Olympic race in 2012, the British duo were separated by Gomez here in Stockholm and it now appears to be a straight shoot-out between the three rivals at the Grand Final in Hyde Park on September 15.

Alistair Brownlee finished 14 seconds ahead of Gomez with younger brother Jonathan a further 23 seconds back as the Olympic champion secured a record 15th career World Triathlon Series win.

Following wins in San Diego and Kitzbuehel, Alistair clocked a time of 1 hour 43min 13sec to equal his brother's haul of three wins on the 2013 tour, and with Gomez claiming the opening World Series event in Auckland, the top three have monopolised the top of the podium this year.

Alistair Brownlee made his decisive break in Stockholm during the bike stageAlistair Brownlee made his decisive break in Stockholm during the bike stage































































The Brownlees and Gomez were part of the leading group after the opening swim and it was nip-and-tuck during the bike stage before Alistair made a break with just under two laps to go and opened up a 21-second lead as the athletes began the run.

In truth, the older Brownlee never looked in any real danger of being caught over the 10 kilometre run while Gomez kicked with a lap to go to out-pace current world champion Jonathan to claim second spot and some crucial extra world ranking points.

Jonathan Brownlee (left) and Spain's Javier Gomez are very much in contention for the world title going into the Grand Final in LondonJonathan Brownlee (left) and Spain's Javier Gomez are very much in contention for the world title going into the Grand Final in London

























"I just did all I could to win really, I knew my running wasn't quite where I wanted it to be so I had to do a bit of something on the bike, but I got off the bike and thought,'oh no, I've had it here'," said Alistair, who despite a year that has been disrupted by injuries is in pole position going into London.

"I just kept going and I actually felt quite good on the second and third laps but the last lap of the run I was just a man dead on legs.

"To be honest this year I never really thought I would be in a position to win a world title, it's been a year of absolute disasters and a bit of a slow one after last year so I couldn't be happier."

With just 120 points separating the top three and a total of 1,200 ranking points available to the winner at next month's Grand Final, with 1,110 and 1,027 going to second and third, the race to be crowned 2013 triathlon world champion is still wide open.

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