With their season just about to start, Great Britain's small squad of just four triathletes did not make much noise at the ITU World Championships in New Zealand.

Robertson celebrates his victory. [Getty Image]

In the alpine scenery of Queenstown, Andrea Whitcombe grabbed sixth place in the women's event after taking 2:09:18 on a challenging 1,500metres swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run.

"I didn't have a good swim, coming out of the water in the third group, but the rest went fine. I caught up and raced through," she said.

Richard Stannard finished in 40th place (2:00:04) in the men's race but had little to prove after his triumph at the World Aquathlon Championships on Tuesday.

"I was looking for that title and maybe the celebrating cost me a bit today," he said.

The 29-year-old led out of the swim but then missed the breakaway group on the bike. He "blew his legs" while doing front work to close the gap, with no energy left for the "tough run".

"This is just the start of the season for us, so we're not in prime shape yet," said Stannard. "We've got Olympic trials in April and May and hope to get ready for that.

"If you make the Great Britain team, and there are quite a lot of athletes capable of doing that, there's no reason why you should not end up with a top-five finish."

Marc Jenkins (1:57:29) came in 23rd, while the current world number three Andrew Johns did not finish.

Australians Emma Snowsill (2:06:40) and Peter Robertson (1:54:13) were crowned world champions on Queenstown's hilly course.

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