In the women's event, Britain's Katie Hewison, who has already had a successful duathlon season, earned her first ITU World Cup win, while Kaitlin Shiver of the United States secured her first World Cup podium place as she took silver ahead of Austria's Lisa Perterer.

Home hopes before the event had centred upon Crisanto Grajales, and he showed they were not misplaced as he sprinted home behind Sarmiento to earn a Mexican 1-2, with France's Grégory Rouault taking bronze.

"I was retired for five years because I had a crash on the bike, but I wanted to come back and I'm feeling good," said Sarmiento, who bolted ahead in the closing stages to finish in 53 minutes, 33 seconds, with Grajales crossing in 53:36 and Rouault clocking 53:49.

"In every event we do, it's a better result and better result.

"It's perfect for me.

"I am very happy.

"I don't want to believe this because I hope it will lead to a lot more triumphs."

Hewison declared herself "absolutely amazed" after her win, adding: "I'm really, really pleased.

"It was a great race for me.

"Just coming back to triathlon, I think I'm more suited for the sprint distance at the moment, so that was a really great race for me."

Katie Hewison achieved an impressive ITU World Cup win in Cancun

The Briton finished with a comfortable lead of 35 seconds in 1hr 19sec, emphatically jump-starting her return to triathlon from duathlon.

"I have been training [triathlons]," Hewison said.

"This year was about building a base.

"I was out last year with a lot of injuries and had to come back slowly.

"I'm looking forward to next season now.

"It's triathlon full steam ahead."

Behind her, Shiver turned on the speed on the final metres to take silver in 1:00:54, while Perterer took bronze in 1:00:56.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
October 2012: Mexico pins triathlon hopes on Rivas and Grajales as Cancun hosts final 2012 ITU event