Great Britain won the Mixed Triathlon Relay world title at the ITU World Triathlon Series race in Hamburg. In a nail biting neck-and-neck race, Alistair Brownlee brought the team home for gold just ahead of the French team.

Lucy Hall, Jonathan Brownlee, Vicky Holland and Alistair Brownlee worked exceptionally well together to lift the title for the third time, having previous won in 2011 and 2012.

Each athlete completed a 300m swim, 6.6km bike ride and 1600m run, making it a fast and furious spectacle for the huge German crowd. Lucy Hall got the team off to a solid start before Jonathan Brownleerode and ran exceptionally well to gain a lead.

Vicky Holland kept the quartet in contention before Alistair Brownlee took on the final leg. He faced another close race with Vincent Luis of France, the silver medal winner behind him in the individual race yesterday.

Alistair Brownlee was delighted to lift the world title, particularly given the crash that put an end to their title hopes last year.

He said: “It was a great team performance today. Everyone did great and we’re real happy to win it again after last year.”

Jonathan Brownlee added: “I did a bit of time trialling at the start of the year and I needed it. I love this format of racing; it’s great to take part in, great race!”

Lucy Hall was delighted to win her first ITU world title. She said: “I think to be in a team with the Brownlees and Vicky you can’t go too wrong with that. It was a tough race for me, but I enjoyed every minute of it.”

Vicky Holland was pleased with both her individual performance (7th yesterday) and the relay. She said: “It’s not been a bad weekend. It’s all in prep for the Commonwealth Games and hopefully I can be part of the relay again there. It’s fast furious racing, but it’s really fun and I’m really pleased to be part of it.”

The team will return home tomorrow in order to rest up for the Commonwealth Games triathlon on 24 July. The individual triathlon events in Glasgow take place in Strathclyde Park on the opening day of competition at the Games and are free to view to spectators. The Mixed Relay will feature two days later with England, Scotland and Wales all having entered strong teams.

Results:

1. Great Britain, 1:19.07

2. France, 1:19.21

3. Hungary, 1:19:31