The event saw athletes tackle a 750 metres swim course in the Alexandra Basin before five laps of a technical bike circuit, taking in the streets of Old Montreal, downtown and Beaver Hall Street.

A small elite group escaped on the bike leg in the women’s race, featuring Zaferes, her team-mate Taylor Knibb and the British duo of Jessica Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown.

With over a minute advantage heading into the run five kilometres run at the Port of Montreal's Grand Quay, the winner would come from the group.

WTS leader Zaferes sought to show her dominance by hitting the front early in the run, with the effort removing The Netherlands’ Maya Kingma, Brazil’s Vitoria Lopes and Knibb from contention

The American slowly broke the resistance of her rivals Learmonth and Taylor-Brown to claim victory in a time of 58 min 15 sec.

Taylor-Brown finished 11 seconds off the pace to end as the runner-up, while Learmonth placed third in 58:49.

Zaferes has now won four of the five races in the series to accumulate a total of 4,925 points and hold a 755 point advantage over second placed Learmonth in the overall standings.

The men’s race saw a large leading group in the only two disciplines of the competition, leading to a pivotal run section.

Last year’s winner Mario Mola attempted to push ahead in the run, but the Spanish star was tracked by Geens and home favourite Tyler Mislawchuk.

Geens ultimately overcame his training partner Mola in a sprint finish, with his time of 53:49 securing a maiden WTS triumph.

He ended just one second clear of Mola, while Canada’s Mislawchuk earned a first podium finish of the series in 53:53.

Spain’s Fernando Alarza finished down in sixth place, but assumed the overall lead in the series standings on 3,282 points.

He overtook the absent Vincent Luis, with the Frenchman dropping to second on 3,200 points.