Alistair Brownlee’s winning run in the World Championship Series came to an end in dramatic fashion in London yesterday.

The 22-year-old from Horsforth - a former pupil at Bradford Grammar School - was in the leading trio heading into the final stages of the run but, clearly exhausted, eventually staggered over the line in tenth place before being rushed to the medical tent.

Heather Williams, performance director of British Triathlon, quickly allayed fears about Brownlee’s health, saying: “Alistair is fine but exhausted. There is no cause for concern.”

But a bad day for the reigning world champion, who had won all six WCS races he had contested going into yesterday’s event in Hyde Park, was a brilliant day for his younger brother Jonny, who finished second behind Spain’s Javier Gomez to earn his first major senior medal.

There was no sign of the drama to come when Alistair Brownlee, last year’s Hyde Park champion, led the way out of the swim, despite losing his goggles.

The finance student initially held a lead on the bike phase but quickly settled back into a large group that also contained his brother and all the main contenders.

A number of athletes attempted to break away but it was not until the final stages that a group of seven, including Britain’s Stuart Hayes, managed to get a gap.

They held a lead of more than 30 seconds going into the run but that was quickly cut by the Brownlee brothers, who immediately surged to the front of the main pack.

Gomez and Olympic champion Jan Frodeno were the only two to stay with the pair, with the latter subsequently slipping backwards as it became a leading trio.

It was a familiar position for Alistair Brownlee and Gomez but this time it was the Spaniard, winner in Hamburg last week, who made the decisive break.