Australia's Brendan Sexton has faded in the Chicago heat but still finished a creditable eighth in the latest ITU World Triathlon Series race.
Spain's world champion and series leader Javier Gomez broke away on the final stages of the 10km run to claim victory ahead of Portugal's Joao Pereira and Spaniard Mario Mola.
With temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, Sexton came home in a time of one hour, 48 minutes and 28 seconds to hit the line just over a minute behind Gomez.
Australia's Commonwealth Games trio - Ryan Bailie and Aaron Royle and Dan Wilson - all watched from the sidelines as they prepare for Glasgow next month.
Of the other Australians, Cameron Good was impressive as he took a 35-second lead after the 40km bike leg but couldn't maintain the hot pace and finished 18th while Peter Kerr was 50th.
Sexton is building towards the type of form that led to him qualifying for the London Olympics and his top-10 performance will be a boost as he eyes Australian selection for the world series grand final in the Canadian city of Edmonton at the end of August.
"When Javier made his move I knew had (no alternative) but to stay at that same pace and in the end it worked because I only just made it to the finish line," said Sexton.
"Normally I rate myself in the heat and I thought I would have a better chance of hanging in than some the other guys.
"We knew there were some good runners in that second group but not many people were willing to work and obviously a few got off the front and kept the chase group at bay."
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