Although they both finished with the same time of 51min 05sec, Jonathan Brownlee won the battle of the Bramhope-based brothers by outsprinting Alistair in the World Series sprint event in Hamburg yesterday.

With Javier Gomez also taking part, it was the first time that the three men’s Olympic medallists from London 2012 had competed against each other since, Alistair having an ankle injury earlier this year and Jonathan a stomach bug which put him out of the gruelling Kitzbuhel round a fortnight ago.

After a typically fast swim, the race really got underway on the bike with a group of 11 escapees reduced to nine but the torrid pace set by Alistair, Jonathan and Gomez meant that by the start of the run, the title was between these three.

Jonathan had led for most of the race and as the 5km run progressed, Gomez dropped off, and in the finishing straight an exciting sprint finish unfolded, with Alistair making the first break only to be outsprinted by his younger brother.

Jonathan said: “I knew I had to give it all to the last. Alistair doesn't like to run behind people, he likes to run in front.

“We got to the last bit and he came past me and I was feeling quite comfortable and I couldn't remember if we were finishing on the right-hand side or the left-hand side but it was good.”

Alistair added: “What a great race. To be honest, the aim was to be in the hunt to win the race, and I was more than happy to be there on that last corner.

“I think I went a bit too early but Jonny is a clever old sod and he kept a bit back.”

In the women’s race, Series leader Anna Haug (Germany) won, but Britons Jodie Stimpson and Non Stanford were seond and third, making Hamburg the most successful World Series race ever in terms of Britons on the podium.

Stimpson had the edge by a second over her team-mate.

However, Britain failed to finish in today's mixed relay team event after Alistair incurred a ten-second penalty and Stanofrd crashed on the bike leg.