Canadian triathlete Kyle Jones reaches 2nd straight World Cup podium

Canada's Kyle Jones ended his season with a memorable bronze-medal finish at the triathlon world cup in Alanya, Turkey to reach the podium in his second consecutive race. 

Fresh off a silver performance two weeks ago in Cozumel, Mexico, the 30-year-old claimed his fourth career world cup podium Sunday.

Jones, of Oakville, Ont., was steady throughout the 1.5-kilometre swim in the Mediterranean Sea, the 40-kilometre bike course and 10-kilometre run – posting a time of 1 hour, 45:27 minutes.

"I'm very happy with another world cup podium finish today, and it is a great way to end the season," Jones said. "I didn't quite have the pop in my legs on the run in comparison to Cozumel so I relied more on strength today."

"We had a group of 12 early on in the run and I knew if I was patient guys would start to fall off the pace. There was a short hill on each of the four laps, and I decided to push a little more going up the third lap. I was able to create a gap with only a couple of others that followed. That move ultimately got me on the podium."

Portugal's Joao Pereira set the golden standard at 1:45:10, while Norway's Kristian Blummenfelt finished just ahead of Jones in the silver-medal position.

It was a strong end to a frustrating season for Jones. The 2012 Olympian was sidelined for most of the year after a bike crash in the spring, followed by a disqualification due to a pierced tire at the Pan American Games in Toronto over the summer.  

"I knew I was capable of these performances despite all the setbacks. Through it all, I've always kept my head down and continued to move forward. To be able to go out and deliver feels great," Jones said.

"These last two results were important for me to improve my ranking, but more than anything, served as an opportunity to get back to racing at my potential. The confidence and the momentum that I gained over the last few weeks will carry me into next season."