Mario Mola wins 3rd straight World Triathlon Series title

GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) – Mario Mola of Spain won his third consecutive World Triathlon Series men’s title after a second-place finish in the final race of the season Sunday.

France’s Vincent Luis won the final race in 1 hour, 44 minutes, 33 seconds, 14 seconds ahead of Mola. Richard Murray of South Africa was third in 1:44.55.

Mola, who won four races during the season, had a lead of over 800 points in the overall standings heading into Sunday’s final race.

On Saturday, Vicky Holland finished a close second to Australian Ashleigh Gentle but it was enough for the British racer to win the overall women’s season title. Katie Zaferes of the U.S. led the women’s standings going into the final with 4,418 points, with Holland 34 points behind.

But Holland’s second-place finish gave her a total of 5,540 points, ahead of Zaferes’ 5,488, who finished third Saturday.

Gentle finished in 1 hour, 52 seconds. Holland was two seconds behind and Zaferes 31 seconds behind Holland.

___

More AP sports: https://apnews.com/tag/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports