The British quartet of Jess Learmonth, Gordon Benson, Georgia Taylor-Brown and Yee, had led from the start and the contest looked to be heading their way on the anchor leg, when Yee strode out of transition for the final 2km run.

But France’s Dorian Coninx, a World Triathlon Series winner in Bermuda in April, refused to be shaken off and had enough energy left for a sprint finish on the blue carpet, where the two had to be separated by a photo-finish.

It was also Britain’s 50th mixed relay competition, but they just missed out on a 13th victory. “It was a great fight,” Yee said. “I gave everything I had and today it wasn’t enough.” USA finished third, ahead of Italy, with Australia in fifth.

The low water quality that meant the swim was cancelled for the Paratriathlon test event had improved sufficiently for the relay to take place over its planned format of a 300m swim, 7.4km bike and 2km run.

Learmonth retained her form from the individual race on Thursday to dominate the opening leg. After her usual strong swim, only Summer Rappaport could stay with the Brit out of T2 and on to the bike leg.

But the Leeds’ triathlete opened a gap on the American before they reached T2 and extended it to 22sec through the run before tagging Benson, with France’s Cassandre Beaugrand and Germany’s Laura Lindemann catching Rappaport by the handover.

Benson, a Rio 2016 Olympian who hadn’t started in the individual race here, had the tough ask of racing solo from the front and initially saw the advantage eroded before extending it to 15sec, with France’s Pierre Le Corre, USA’s Seth Rider and Italy’s Gianluca Pozzati prominent among the chasers.

On to the third leg and Taylor-Brown held off USA’s Tamara Gorman and France’s Leonie Periault during the bike stage, but was caught on the run, which sent Yee away with Coninx, just ahead of USA’s Ben Kanute, with Italy almost 30sec back and Australia the best of the race, just under a minute in arrears.

Kanute, a powerful cyclist, knew his only chance of victory lay in trying to gain a race-winning gap on the bike, but when that didn’t materialise, it was down to Yee versus Coninx on the run.

The Brit set the pace throughout the 2km run, but Coninx hung on before delivering a decisive finish.

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It showed the strength in depth of France, who have won the past two mixed relay world titles and secured victory in Tokyo without their No 1 ranked performer Vincent Luis. 

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It was also spectacular way to conclude the test event races after a tricky week for organisers trying to make correct decisions over water quality and the potential of heat stress in the new venue of Odaiba Marine Bay.

2. British qualification is no clearer. Despite the criteria for Olympic qualification being incredibly tough – primarily podiums in both the Yokohama World Series and Tokyo test event – there was still potential for it to sort out a couple of spots. But with no top three finishes in Yokohama, none on the men’s side in Tokyo, and the disrupted format in the women’s race, nothing, as yet, has been confirmed. On one hand it shows the strength in depth, particularly on the women’s side, but the risk becomes that competing triathletes have to peak twice in 2020, first for a further attempt to qualify and then the Games themselves. And as history has shown, that is not an easy task.

3. Tokyo too testing? Being part test event, part Olympic qualification event has worked well in the past for pre-Olympic action, but there were almost too many unknowns in Tokyo, which meant the testing part was rigorous, but the qualification aspect a lottery. While there was much brouhaha in the wider media over the disqualification of Jess Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown for a contrived tie, the more critical part was providing clarification for the triathletes over whether, and by how much, their performances would count towards individual qualification. Vicky Holland, for example, knew that a podium guaranteed her a Tokyo 2020 spot. The race being cut to a 5km run ripped that chance away, yet she still produced the fastest run split, coped impressively with the heat, and, after the DQs, finished third. Does that help or hinder her chances? As the reigning world champion said: “I wouldn’t want to be a selector.”

4. A last word on the DQs. While the disqualification for hand-to-hand no-combat grabbed the headlines and split opinion, dwelling on it ad nauseam serves little purpose. As far back as 2012, triathletes were warned against deliberately crossing the line together, when the Brownlee brothers, dominant at the time, did the same at a lowkey race in Blenheim and were asked whether it was something they might consider in the Olympics. It’s been cast as a daft rule in some quarters, but is clearly stated in the rules and is there to respect the integrity of competition. Most within the sport would have known about it. Learmonth and Taylor-Brown just looked happy to have performed so well in the heat, and seemed oblivious, but while they went through the motions with the protest, few in the British Triathlon camp will really be complaining – including the duo, who are probably just kicking themselves over some lost prizemoney.

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5. What now for 2020? It’s difficult to know what comes next for triathlon at Tokyo 2020, but nothing should be off the table. The new venue at Odaiba Marine Park struggled due to the water quality and that has to remain a fear. It’s not just a concern for triathlon either, the marathon swimmers won’t want to be on the eve of competition wondering what kind of E-Coli strain they might pick up the following morning. The heat stress measurement – the wet-bulb glow temperature – that was adhered to resulting in a shortened women’s run, has now also set a precedent. The ‘perceived temperature’ of 32 degrees that led to alteration is not extreme for the city at this time of year, and with the Olympics even earlier next summer, a repeat is likely. Relaxing guidelines that are in place to protect athletes’ health seems risky without an admission they were too strict in the first place, so do mitigating arrangements need putting in place before the event itself? And does this mean, that as has been hinted at before, the Olympics will become a sprint distance race?

The greater showcase is welcome. The International Olympic Committee, while not currently in the habit of axing sports, has needed some persuasion to retain modern pentathlon and wrestling on its roster in recent years, so improving the popularity of tri through the two-woman, two-man contest helps further weave it into the fabric of the Games. 

Having been showcased in Commonwealth competition and become increasingly commonplace on the World Triathlon Series, it has few detractors, but what the format receives in plaudits, it also lacks in scrutiny. The mixed relay only works if it serves to complement the main event – yet there are warning signs that it might just undermine it. 

As so often in life, potential ramifications don’t arise from poor intentions, but a flawed system. In this case it’s predicated on the longstanding truism that medals equal money, leading to national teams protecting funding by prioritising events where podium performances are most likely. 

There is precedent. In the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland withdrew their female entrants from the individual event, saving them solely for the relay – and leaving home fans puzzled as to why there was no-one to cheer when the Auld Enemy had two on the podium. 

This gaming of selection further threatens to mar Tokyo2020. Astute performance directors may feel compelled to concentrate on a well-drilled quartet for the shorter- format racing, instilling their charges with the message that should the solo competition not be going to plan they should ease up and save their legs. 

The antithesis of the Olympic spirit? Absolutely. Far-fetched? Far from it. Last year in Hamburg, Australia’s Ashleigh Gentle was off the pace in the sprint race and quit. “Under normal circumstances I would NEVER usually ‘just DNF’,” she revealed on social media. “Under instruction from Triathlon Australia, I pulled out near the start of the run to save myself for the mixed relays.” 

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The Australians were beaten into second place by France the following day, the irony being that Gentle went on to win the end-of-season Grand Final and finish sixth overall in the series. In completing just five races compared to her rivals’ six, that decision not to stay the course in Hamburg resulted not just in loss of face, but several thousand AUS dollars.

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Elite sport is full of calculated decisions, and when rewards are high, this is understandable if not commendable. But it’s also incumbent on those providing governance to make sure the framework of competition is robust so it cannot be abused in this manner. If triathletes don’t give their all in individual competition it might slightly increase the chances of a team medal but will damage something far more important – the long-term faith in our sport.

He is now on the search for up to four disabled children aged between 8 and 15 to join Jonnie’s Blade Camp (working title) which will air on Channel 4 in 2020.

 Jonnie said: “My own story and those of many Paralympians prove sport and an active lifestyle is possible regardless of disability.

 “Giving disabled youngsters the support and encouragement they need to stay active doesn’t just help them physically, it can potentially provide them with a life-changing sense of confidence and self-worth.

 “This isn’t the search for the next Paralympic sprint champion, this project is about opening young people’s eyes so they can release their potential and realise how much they can achieve whether that’s participating in structured sport or just running around and messing about in the playground with their friends.”

 Jonnie will initially meet the children and their families and find out more about them and set a goal, such as taking part for the first time in a school sports day. Each child selected to take part in the series will receive, and keep, their own running blade.

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 Jonnie will meet the children several times over the course of about eight months to inspire, train and take them on a journey to a more active life. He’ll also stay in regular contact with them to find out how they are doing and offer support and encouragement.

 Parents of children who regularly use a prosthetic leg to take part in sport are being invited to put forward their children’s names as potential participants. Parents who feel their child could benefit from joining Jonnie’s Blade Camp can contact the production company, One Tribe TV, which is helping Jonnie set up the project.

 The children may be limb-disabled above or below the knee and may have lost both legs.

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 Parents who are interested in putting their children forward for the series should contact [email protected]

The 30-year-old American came a cropper in the Olympic test event in Tokyo a fortnight ago where she appeared to catch her wheel on a barrier leg and was fortunate not to be more seriously injured.

But despite the scare and battle scars she will line up in Switzerland a clear favourite after one of the most dominant WTS campaigns since the series inception in 2009.

Zafares will add any points gained from the Grand Final to the four victories and a runners-up spot already achieved as her five best counting results. The upshot is she only needs a best placed finish of 12th to secure the title and an extra $83,000 from the ITU bonus pool.

A 35th place in Hamburg this season aside when Zafares fell victim to another bike crash, she hasn’t placed that lowly in a race she’s finished since the 2016 Grand Final of Cozumel. A successful placing will also banish any lingering memories from last year where she led the standings all season before being beaten by Vicky Holland in the final race to relinquish the crown.

If the American does slip up, the most likely benefactors are the British pair of Jess Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown. The duo shot to more mainstream attention after the Olympic test event for crossing the line hand-in-hand and being controversially disqualified, but they also showed the form in Tokyo that has made them two of the most consistently high performing triathletes this year.

Learmonth has a WTS runner-up and three third places to count on this season to go into Lausanne second overall, and Taylor-Brown won in Leeds to place third in the standings. 

But hope rest on a Zafares mishap. If Taylor-Brown wins in Lausanne, Zafares would have to finish 15th or below for the 25-year-old to take the title. For Learmonth to be successful, a victory would need to be complemented by Zafares finishing 13th or lower. If Learmonth did this win the race, it would still be a breakthrough. Despite seven World Series podiums, and a European triathlon crown from 2017, she is yet to win a WTS race.

Non Stanford also lines up in Lausanne after a consistent season highlighted by victory in Hamburg. Having placed a revised seventh in the Tokyo test event after the disqualifications, the 2013 world champion and fourth-placed Rio Olympian will want to round off the WTS by staying in the forefront of British selectors minds for Tokyo next year. 

Also on the start-line is Vicky Holland. The Bath-based triathlete and reigning world champion has dealt with injury and not had the season she wanted in trying to defend her title, but looks to be heading into form after posting the fastest run split on the shortened 5km leg in Tokyo. 

The Grand Final is not a British selection race for the Olympics and the climate and terrain are markedly different, but if Holland’s continues to show she can produce on the big stage, then it puts her in good stead for the chance of a third Olympic Games.

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Sophie Coldwell is also on the start-list and will be looking for another top 10 finish after her ninth place in Leeds and a revised ninth in the test event. She’s also placed 14th in Hamburg and 15th in Edmonton and won a second tier World Cup race in Cagliari in May, to show that she’s thriving at this level. As a strong swim-biker, expect Coldwell to be in the thick of the action from the start.

Rounding out the British contingent is Beth Potter, the track 10,000m runner turned triathlete. Potter is the reigning European champion having won in Weert in Holland in May and finished a respectable 14th in her only WTS start in 2019. The Scot is racing in her first Grand Final and will be looking for the swim of her life to try and stay with the pace early and keep herself in contention.

Of the other competitors, the return of Flora Duffy – the 2016 and 2017 world champion – to ITU racing brings plenty of expectation. Duffy hadn’t raced for over a year before a powerhouse cycling display in the Tokyo test event led to her eventually being crowned the winner, and with a fortnight’s more run training in her legs, and a challenging bike course that suits her strength, few would be surprised if the Bermudan fashioned a third Grand Final victory to go with previous wins in Rotterdam (2017) and Cozumel (2016).

The final name that jumps out is that of 2012 Olympic champion and 2016 Olympic silver medallist, Nicola Spirig. The Swiss athlete, now 37, who has returned to racing after a third child, will relish testing her mettle against younger rivals and placed eighth in her single WTS outing in 2019. She’s also fond of the venue having won a World Cup race in Lausanne last year and a world mixed relay title here in 2010. To underline Spirig’s longevity in the sport, she also finished fifth here in the junior women’s race 21 years ago as a 16-year-old.

As Friday au d’oeuvres, the Under-23 and junior world titles are also on the line. Britain is represented by Olivia Mathias, Sophie Alden and Kate Waugh in the U-23 race. Mathias is the highest ranked Brit and has tasted victory this season over the sprint distance in a European Cup race in Olsztyn in northern Poland in May. The highest ranked triathlete is France’s Emilie Morier, who finished a commendable 12th place in the Tokyo test event and was part of the successful mixed relay quartet that won the world title in Hamburg.

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The women’s junior world championship, often a precursor to those who’ll break through to the top or the triathlon world is raced over the sprint distance and Britain is represented by Erin Wallace and Sophia Green. The last British winner was Scotland’s Kirsty McWilliam in 2008, backing up success for Hollie Avil the previous year.

The French triathlete decided to skip the Tokyo Olympic test event a fortnight ago to prepare thoroughly and requires no worse than a fifth place finish to lift the trophy.

The omens are good for Luis. The 30-year-old has excelled in previous Grand Final competitions, winning in 2017 in Rotterdam and last year in Gold Coast. And in six WTS races in 2019, only once has he finished outside the top five, and that was a sixth place finish in Leeds.

His closest rival is training partner under Joel Filliol and three-time and defending champion, Mario Mola of Spain. Mola also opted to sit out the contest in Tokyo, but after winning the opening race of the season in Abu Dhabi struggled for form before runners-up spots in Edmonton and Montreal reignited his hopes.

In the most unpredictable year of WTS men’s racing to date, no fewer than 15 triathletes have made the podium and six start in Lausanne with at least a mathematical chance of lifting the crown.

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For the evergreen Javier Gomez to win a record-breaking sixth title it would require victory for the London 2012 silver medallist and Luis slipping to eighth and Mola to third or below.

It would take an even more unlikely finishing scenario – or more likely a huge bike pile-up – for Spain’s Fernando Alarza, Australia’s Jake Birtwhistle or Belgium’s Marten van Riel to be in with a chance.

For a third straight year, no Brit is in contention, showing that is has not been a vintage season for the home contingent and the Brownlee-led charge of the past decade looks to have finally relented.

It has been a breakthrough year for Alex Yee, though, who can boast a second in Abu Dhabi and fifth place in Yokohama to go with a World Cup in win in Cape Town in February. Yee’s running calibre was underlined not only by his WTS form but a personal best 13:29 clocking over 5,000m in the London Anniversary Games in July. If the Londoner can continue to turn his potential into results then Olympic year promises to be even more fruitful.

Yee lines up with Jonathan Brownlee as the only two Brits in the 68-strong field. Brownlee looked back to form after winning in Edmonton – his first WTS triumph since Stockholm 2017, but will not have been content with a fifth place in the Tokyo test event given the absence of Luis, Mola, Gomez and Alarza.

Brownlee has a chequered history in the season-ending Grand Final and has never won it. It was the scene of his near collapse in Cozumel in 2016 and he was out-sprinted by the slimmest of margins by Javier Gomez in 2013. Both times the title was his for the taking. On the one occasion he was crowned champion, in 2012, Gomez also beat him in the finale in Auckland.

Lausanne is a challenging course that should suit him, though. He split the two Norwegians, Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt to finish runner-up in a World Cup race in the Swiss town last year and did win a now-discontinued ITU sprint world title there in both 2010 and 2011 – on the first occasion getting the better of Tim Don and then seeing off both Gomez and his brother Alistair for gold.

Ben Dijkstra, James Teagle and Harry Leleu are the Brits in contention for the Under-23 race that takes place on Friday. There’s an Antipodean feel to the favourites, with Australia’s Matt Hauser and Brandon Copeland, and New Zealand’s defending champion Tayler Reid all in contention. Dijkstra is the best ranked of the GB triathletes and teamed up with Yee, Sophie Coldwell and Georgia Taylor-Brown as part of a winning quartet in the World Triathlon mixed relay series in Nottingham in June in a race that was turned into a duathlon.

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Marcus Dey and Toby Osman will contest the junior men’s event, a title that was won by Alistair Brownlee in Lausanne 13 years ago.

It was Luis’ title to lose heading into the final round of the 2019 World Triathlon Series, after racking up five top-five finishes and one sixth in six races and needing a top-five finish in the final race. Contenders to his throne included the reigning champion Mario Mola, five-time world champion Javier Gomez, Fernando Alarza, Australia’s Jake Birtwhistle and Belgium’s Marten van Riel. And they, along with a punishing Swiss course, a gutsy Norwegian and temperatures in the high 20s, would make him work for it.

Knowing he was in a strong position, Luis played a relatively safe race. Mere seconds separated him and swim supremo Henri Schoeman after the two-lap 1.5km swim, guaranteeing him a place in the front pack alongside GB’s Jonny Brownlee, Gomez, Alarza and Birtwhistle. Mola had a sub-par swim to just miss the first pack, but by the start of the second lap of seven had brought the chase group up to make a large lead pack of 23. 

Three laps in and the break to the chase group, which included GB’s Alex Yee, was one minute. Keen to start a break up front, meanwhile, was Brownlee, who could be seen trying to ‘rally the troops’, to put it diplomatically, in scenes reminiscent of his older brother. But he wasn’t there with 12km left when a small breakaway of four, including the strong Norwegian biking duo of Casper Stornes and Kristian Blummenfelt, took the limelight, albeit briefly. 

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Luis kept his nose clean throughout the 40km bike leg, sitting in but keeping a close eye on his main title threats for any sudden breaks off the front. With one lap to go, the chase group, unable to find a productive rhythm, was 2mins down. 

Brownlee was seen dropping his bike on the way into T2, to leave second last from the lead pack. Up front it was Blummenfelt who took to the front, with Mola, Luis, Gomez, Alarza, Stornes and Gustav Iden (NOR) snapping at his heels. One lap completed and they’d reeled him in to make a lead group of six. Stornes was the first to drop, followed by Gomez, as Mola upped the pace. Iden and Alarza were the next to go with 5.5km to go. Blummenfelt, with a sniff at his first WTS win, took it up a notch again to lead the race, leaving training partners Mola and Luis to race shoulder to shoulder. 

Blummenfelt never looked back, to take his first-ever WTS win in emphatic style after 1:50:47 and a 30:46min 10km. Next through was Mola, followed by Alarza and Iden who capitalised on a slowing Luis. But fifth was all Luis had to do take the title, to finish a day of ‘just-enoughs’ for the Frenchman. Gomez took sixth, Stornes seventh, Brownlee eighth, Yee 13th (with the third-fastest run of the day of 31:12).

In the title standings, Mola finished the year runner-up and Gomez third. 

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For a full list of results see triathlon.org

Her title chase started well, with a decent swim some 17secs behind GB’s Jess Learmonth, who was second in the standings. While Learmonth shot off down the road on a one-woman mission post-T1, Zaferes was able to catch the main chase group and sit in with GB’s Georgia Taylor-Brown (third in the standings pre-race) and Sophie Coldwell, Flora Duffy (first in the test event), Taylor Spivey (USA, 4thin the standings) and Vittoria Lopes (BRA, 4thin the test event). Nine kilometres in and they’d met up with Learmonth to form a lead group of seven.

London 2012 victor, Rio silver medallist, mother of three and all-round Swiss heroine Nicola Spirig was also towing the line in her home country, but a 52sec swim deficit saw her head up the chase group for almost the entirety of the 40km bike leg. Joining her were GB’s Non Stanford (fifth in the standings) and reigning world champion Vicky Holland.

Halfway through and Spivey and Coldwell were dropped by the lead group, while Holland and Stanford dropped back from the chase pack, which was now some 47secs down.

With one lap to go, Duffy finally made the break she’d been hinting at all race… but it lasted all 500m before Zaferes bridged the small deficit to set the race up for a 10km showdown.

Out of T2 and Lopes was the first to succumb to the pace up front as the leading quartet started the run running in a diamond formation. In scenes reminiscent of last year’s Worlds in New Zealand, where Zaferes was kept honest by Holland, who ultimately took the title, the American was once again joined by a British contingent, as Duffy started to drop back.

With 6km to go, the trio were running shoulder to shoulder, all three looking strong and none of them giving an inch. Dutch athlete Rachel Klamer, meanwhile, who had spent the entire race in the chase group, passed Duffy for fourth at the end of the third lap of four.

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Twelve-hundred metres to go and Taylor-Brown just started to drop back, leaving Zaferes and Learmonth to duke it out for the top podium spot. But finally able to put some daylight between her and Learmonth, Zaferes broke the tape to take the race and the title win. Taylor-Brown crossed the line for third, to keep the race and title top three the same.

Spirig crossed the line in 10thto the delight of the home crowd.

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For a full list of results head to triathlon.org.

The London triathlete has arrived on the Cote d’Azur fit and healthy after an unbeaten season that has seen her victorious in Ironman South Africa, Challenge Roth, and the Challenge Championship for a third consecutive year over the same distance course as they will race in Nice. 

But that is about the only similarity between the event in Samorin with its pan-flat bike course and the testing challenge in the south of France that sees a hilly test on a bike leg that summits the 962m Col de Vence.

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It won’t be the course or conditions that pose the most threat to Charles-Barclay’s chances though, but the opposition, chiefly Ryf, who has won four of the past five 70.3 world titles to sit alongside four consecutive Kona crowns. 

Unsurprisingly the Swiss has been in winning form again this season, with Ironman victories in Austria and Texas, and 70.3 success in Oceanside, USA and Rapperswil, Switzerland. She was also first across the line in the Alpe d’Huez long course race, showing she’s no slouch when it comes to climbing mountains. 

Ryf and Charles-Barclay reached T2 together last year in Port Elizabeth, South Africa before Ryf asserted her dominance and pulled clear on the run. But while Charles-Barclay is yet to gain the upper hand, another Brit, who trains out of California, does know what it takes to beat Ryf. 

Holly Lawrence was a surprise world champion in Mooloolaba on Australia’s Sunshine Coast when she triumphed in 2016, as Ryf had a rare misfire and finished fourth. And while injury plagued the 29-year-old in the aftermath, this year she has returned to her best with four victories, including the Ironman European and North American 70.3 titles in Elsinore, Denmark and St George, Utah, where she broke the course record. Lawrence’s only defeat was at the hands of Ryf in Oceanside where she ceded over 5mins on the 90km bike leg. 

It’s again likely to be the bike leg where the damage is done and staying in contention for as long as possible will be the goal of all 63 listed starters as the field rivals the males’ as being one of the most competitive in the event’s 14-year history.  

Brazil’s Pamella Oliveira and the Czech Republic’s Radka Kahlefeldt will be hoping to dislodge the top three from the podium. The two finished fourth and fifth respectively in South Africa last year, but will need to have improved significantly to be a threat. 

Other names to watch for are Australian Sarah Crowley, fourth in Kona last year, London 2012 Olympic silver medallist Lisa Norden of Sweden, and her fellow short-course veteran and three-time Olympian Barbara Riveros of Chile.

Just as with the men’s race, the Brits are well represented too, with six of the seven women having at least one Ironman 70.3 title to their name. 

Charles-Barclay and Lawrence will be joined by Emma Pallant, who took silver to Ryf in 2017 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Fenella Langridge, who won Edinburgh 70.3 last year.

Also on the start-list are Frankie Sanjana, who is based in Holland and won her first 70.3 title, Les Sables d’Olonne, in June, and India Lee, who won a second 70.3 title in Finland in the same month having stepped up from standard distance racing.

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Finally, while Katrina Rye, who was awarded a pro licence in May and may not yet have a 70.3 gold, she came close in finishing runner-up to Lee in Finland and has since been crowned ETU Middle Distance Triathlon champion in Târgu Mures.