World Triathlon

It wasn’t a top moment of Javier Gomez’s troubled season, but it certainly shaped the course of the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series as the defending world champion crashed out at round six in London.

Having firmly established himself in the front pack alongside main rival Alistair Brownlee the Spaniard snapped his bike chain coming out of a turn and found himself sprawled on the road covered in cuts and bruises as the Englishman disappeared from sight.

Although the chase pack managed to claw their way back to the leaders they couldn’t stop Brownlee who went on to register his fourth successive series win and ultimately set himself up for the Grand Final on the Gold Coast with a healthy advantage over Gomez.

Despite his injuries Gomez bravely traveled across the world to Japan to compete the next weekend in Yokohama, taking third place behind Jan Frodeno and Kris Gemmell, before heading down to Australia to prepare for the final race.

Whether Gomez would have beaten Brownlee in London had he stayed upright is a contentious issue, but the Spanish sensation could have given himself a better chance of holding on to his world title and probably not had to travel around the world at the last minute.

Make sure to check back next Friday for the next installment of the ITU’s 2009 Top Moments exclusively on triathlon.org.