Alistair Brownlee has claimed victory on his return to World Triathlon Series action in Cape Town, despite suffering a fall which nearly proved costly.

The Olympic champion has missed the first three events of the campaign due to an ankle injury, but he was able to sprint away from Javier Gomez and Vincent Luis to claim top spot.

Brownlee had fallen behind following an earlier trip, but he was able to battle back to come out on top.

Speaking to BBC Sport after the race, the 27-year-old said: "I knew I wasn't that fit, I didn't have good legs to be honest, then Javier tripped me up and I had to run back so the whole thing was tough.

"I should only get fitter from here so give me another three weeks and hopefully I will be another notch up."

Jonathan Brownlee, the brother of Alistair, claimed victory on the Auckland leg of the Series, but he sat out this weekend's race in order to focus on an upcoming triathlon event in Rio.