Leading from start to finish: Kyle Smith (NZL) just took a great victory at Challenge Wanaka. Already during the swim he grabbed a small lead, during the bike ride that lead got bigger and also during the run he only managed to get more ample in the lead, resulting in an ultimately spectacular victory.
It was Smith who came out of the water first after 23:08 minutes in beautiful conditions and especially in a breathtaking scenery. He was then followed at just under a minute by men like Mike Phillips, Benjamin Zorgnotti, Valentino Agnelli, Jack Moody and Nick Thompson. That lead grew tremendously fast, however, when Smith began to push watts on the bike.
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For almost the entire 90 kilometers on the bike, Smith managed to build his lead until he came back in T2 with a 2:30 lead over Phillips. Behind the two fastest man, it was a huge battlefield as defending champion Moody and Zorgnotti returned in third and fourth, respectively, but by then were nearly nine minutes behind already.
During the leaden run over a completely unpaved course and including two tough climbs, it quickly became apparent that Smith no longer had to worry: at the halfway point, his lead over Phillips had already grown to five minutes and in the meantime Moody, who was still trailing by more than eight minutes, barely managed to get any closer.
In the end, Smith finished the race and took victory in 3:53:08. Phillips finished second in 3:58:11 and Moody third in 4:00:21.
