Conditions were wet, slippy and cold for the WTS final in Rotterdam, the first time the Dutch city had featured on the WTS calendar.
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Luis wins Rotterdam, but Mola takes 2nd world title
WTS leader Spaniard Mario Mola was the man to beat, and had to finish in the top 5 to defend his 2016 title – on paper a straightforward task but with difficult conditions, a strong field and a twisty bike course, it was important that he stayed in touch with any breaks that would take place.
As predicted Richard Varga from Slovakia led the swim, with Britain’s Jonny Brownlee exiting 8 secs down and Mola exiting 26secs down, one of his best swims of the season.
The early lead bike group of 15 included Brownlee, the newly crowned 70.3 World Champ Javier Gomez, Luis, Varga, Ben Kanute from USA, and Aaron Royle from Australia, with Mola, Fernando Alarza (ESP) and Richard Murray (RSA) all in the first chase pack just 20 seconds back.