Ireland’s Russell White was one of a number of athletes who crashed in poor conditions at the World Triathlon Series event in Yokohama.
Just like in the women’s race, the wet course made for some mechanical issues, with Spaniard Mario Mola claiming victory for the second year in a row.
Great Britain’s Olympic silver medallist Jonathan Brownlee crashed over the safety barrier after trying to avoid another rider on the technical course, while 24-year-old White also came a cropper on the bike.
White swam the 1500m six seconds faster than Mola in a time of 18 minutes and 42 seconds, but was one of a number to suffer difficulties on the saddle and was withdrawn after being lapped by competitors.
"It was crazy conditions, with multiple crashes due to so much rain," he posted on his Twitter account afterwards.
Asked whether he suffered any serious injuries, White replied: "I'm ok, could have been worse."
So that's why my skewer wouldn't go back in after I crashed. 👎 pic.twitter.com/TP3YYUEWlQ
— Russell White (@russellwhitetri) May 13, 2017
Mola’s win was also his second of the season and catapulted him back to the top of the WTS rankings.
"I am very happy obviously, it has been a very good day for me," he said afterwards.
"On the bike we had to be careful. But with this day you never know what is going to happen, today luckily it worked well for me so I am very pleased with it."
Brownlee got caught in a bike crash right outside T2 and took him out of the running for the podium. While many thought his day would result in a DNF, true to Brownlee fashion, he picked up his bike and ran it in to be able to finish the race.
Brownlee ended up 42nd on the day, but his effort to finish showed character on his first WTS race of the season
