Triathlon Legend Javier Gomez The 41-year-old finally got his season underway on Saturday, winning the half marathon in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
The Spaniard, who also competed in low-level middle-distance races in his hometown last year to test his fitness, is set to compete in the T100 Triathlon World Tour event in San Francisco next weekend.
Triathlon fans will be relieved to see Gomez win another race after a tough last six months that has seen him battle through injuries, personal losses and a tough DNF.
“I enjoyed racing on a challenging course.”
Gomez, who hadn't raced since DNFing at Ironman 70.3 Tasmania in February, comfortably won in Vitoria by nearly seven minutes over compatriot Emilio Aguayo Munoz.
Despite racing solo for most of the day, the five-time ITU World Champion recorded impressive times in wet conditions: 22 minutes 46 seconds for the swim, 2 hours 6 minutes 34 seconds for the bike and 1 hour 10 minutes 2 seconds for the half marathon.
Taking to social media after the race, the Spaniard, with his usual humility, congratulated his fellow athletes and thanked the volunteers, now preparing to head to San Francisco.
“What a great day today at @vihalfgasteiz. We enjoyed racing on a challenging course and in a beautiful city – even in the rain! Well done to the organizers, volunteers and everyone involved in the event. Also congratulations to @aguayotri and @joanesgoitisolo on making it onto the podium. Thank you to everyone who supported us today.”
San Francisco is calling
Despite being a contracted athlete on the T100 Tour, Gomez has yet to compete in a PTO Tour event in his career, with next weekend marking just his second 100km race after the 2020 Challenge Daytona.
Gomez won the highly competitive Ironman 70.3 Mossel Bay last year after two consecutive wins in his home races in Spain, and he's hoping to repeat the same pattern in San Francisco.
His underwater performance last weekend in Vitoria suggests he will certainly be swimming with the lead pack, and it's likely that it will be his bike that will be most severely tested on California's tough course.
Looking back
Even if Gomez won't be competing for a win or a podium in San Francisco, most triathlon fans will be intrigued to see how he performs against lifelong rival Alistair Brownlee in the first head-to-head match between the two since 2020.
The most famous showdown at the middle distance was when Brownlee held off Gomez at the 2018 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in South Africa, where both men were beaten that day by Jan Frodeno.
Going back even further, it's been almost 12 years since the pair's enthralling battle in Hyde Park at the London Olympics, a race that would define their relationship for the rest of their careers.
But after enduring so many setbacks over the past few seasons, old rivalries may be forgotten on race day as the pair find a comfortable familiarity with each other in the ever-changing world of professional racing.
