Sarah True once again claimed the top spot in Stockholm with a dominant performance on the run, beating favourite Katie Zaferes and Olympic champion Nicola Spirig in the process.
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True won her first World Triathlon Series event in the Swedish capital last year over sprint distance, and this year she increased her margin of victory to 14 seconds over the standard distance course to come home in 2:01:05.
With the current world champion Gwen Jorgensen choosing to sit this one out along with Brits Vicky Holland and Non Stanford, there were few athletes in the field who have split True and Zaferes this season.
This was true from the outset, as the two Americans emerged from the swim far ahead of the main pack of swimmers, and even seconds in front of super-swimmer Carolina Routier (ESP). Olympic champion Nicola Spirig (SUI) was already 48 seconds back going into T1.
True and Zaferes dropped Routier straight away on the bike but were soon joined by Bermudan Flora Duffy. They pushed the pace but by lap 4 of 6 Spirig had caught up, and by lap 5 they were swallowed by a chase pack which included Andrea Hewitt (NZL) Rachel Klamer (NED) and Erin Densham (AUS). The pack stayed together into T2 despite some breakaway attempts, and began the run on a steep incline.
True, Duffy and Spirig stormed into the lead at the start of the four-lap run course, followed closely by seven other athletes.