Kahlefeldt takes Mooloolaba title | Australian Olympic Committee

Defending champion Brad Kahlefeldt won his second successive Mooloolaba ITU World Cup triathlon on Saturday ahead of fellow Australian Brendan Sexton and Frenchman David Hauss.

Kahlefeldt crossed the finish line in 1:51:05, three seconds ahead of Sexton, who dived across the line six tenths of a second ahead of Hauss after recovering from a 15-second penalty for an infringement in the transition zone.

Defending champion Brad Kahlefeldt won his second successive Mooloolaba ITU World Cup triathlon on Saturday ahead of fellow Australian Brendan Sexton and Frenchman David Hauss.

It was Kahlefeldt's third Mooloolaba title, after also winning in 2007. Kahlefeldt, the world No.3, took his winning the lead in the final run stage and showed the power that won him the Geelong sprint championships in February.

"I was just happy to stay in front and keep pushing the pace really hard and I was kind of lucky they all started to feel it on the last lap," he said.

"It's (Mooloolaba), a very hard run course. It's brutal and it's one of the hardest on the circuit. "All the people say I can't race well on a hard course (but) in the last five years in Mooloolaba I've always been on the podium."

Kahlefeldt predicted Sexton would push as hard for a spot in the Australian Olympic squad as he did in his desperate burst for the Mooloolaba finish line.

"Brendan's going very well, Kahlefeldt said. "He's a strong athlete and he's going to push hard for this Olympic squad. He's certainly starting to come through now, he's right up there and he could go to London and perform well."

Sexton said he wasn't sure what his penalty was for, but decided to serve it in the middle of the run stage rather than have the 15 seconds applied to his time.

"If anything it (the stoppage) gave me a good rest," he said. "My legs felt even better when I came out of the penalty box."

AAP