No joy for the New Zealanders at the latest round of the ITU triathlon world championship series in Madrid, with James Elvery and Ben Pattle finishing down the order as Britain's Alistair Brownlee claimed a stunning victory in his first appearance after seven months out with injury.
Conditions were hot and the racing fierce as Elvery exited the water in 20th place, 24 seconds behind the leaders.
But the Aucklander was unable to stay with the early pace through transition and onto the 40-kilometre bike stage, missing the first two groups and from that moment was always struggling to finish in the top 20 of a world class field. He was 52nd.
Similarly Pattle struggled to exit the water close enough to the power brokers of the sport and found himself in the final group on the bike, steadily losing time to the leaders and any chance of a good points scoring finish, eventually withdrawing from the race.
Australia's Courtney Atkinson was second and the Swiss Sven Riederer third.
