Last one in the water is toast

Some 12,000 people braved the heat for the weekend's event - sprint distances on Saturday and the longer, Olympic, distances on Sunday. British Beijing hopeful Tim Don won the Sunday event - the first time he has won the London triathlon - and the women's event was won by another Briton, Michelle Dillon.

Evening Standard photographer Cavan Pawson, 40, who was competing, said: "Normally the swim is the worst part, because swimming in the Thames is like swimming in French onion soup, it's so brown and muddy. People stand at the edge saying, 'No, you go in first'. But this year people couldn't wait to get in."

Organisers of the Michelob Ultra London Triathlon expect the event - now in its 11th year - to have raised £2.5 million for charity.

While London was the hottest place in the country yesterday, with temperatures in the capital reaching 30C and thousands taking to the parks to enjoy the sunshine, this week is likely to be a lot cooler.

Forecaster Marco Petagna of MeteoGroup, the weather forecasting arm of the Press Association, said: "We will see a fair amount of bright and fairly dry weather, but it is going to be much cooler", adding that temperatures are likely to reach daytime highs of 22C.

He said that occasional light showers at the start of the week are probable, with conditions becoming more unsettled towards the end of the week. "We will have showers and possibly more prolonged spells of rain."

DLR bans Triathlon cyclists

Competitors in the London Triathlon slammed Docklands Light Railway chiefs after they were banned from taking their bikes on trains.

There was a row last night after tired competitors tried to use DLR services at Custom House - but were ordered off by the station manager. When two competitors remained on board, the manager took the train out of service.

Many competitors were forced to cycle miles to the nearest Tube station for their journeys home. They accused the DLR of taking the "gloss" off the prestigious two-day event - attended by 12,000 competitors.

Cyclist Graham Cooke, 27, from Battersea, said: "We were tired. The decision to ban us was petty." But a DLR spokeswoman said that the cyclists had tried to board trains after special "competitor" services had stopped running.