Wanaka's Tony Dodds proved the best of the Kiwis in Austria this morning (NZT), finishing 10th at the Kitzbuhel round of the world triathlon series.
The top-10 placing is a career best for Dodds, and a sign of the considerable promise the 25-year-old has shown since his junior career.
Aftera fast swim and bike, Dodds was pleased he was able to remain strong throughout the run.
"I've been doing a lot of work on my strengths and weaknesses with my coach, Tim Brazier, and I think that's starting to come through,'' he said.
"In the past I've been going into races quite nervous and that affects you mentally. Today I was just focusing on the process and not the end result.''
Dodds said one way to overcome the nerves was to race with a nothing to lose attitude, something that also helped him at the start of the run.
"I ran as hard as I could during the first few kilometres of the run. Running alongside the likes of Laurent Vidal I was like, `wow, I've never been up here before', and I wasn't sure what to expect.
"To be able to hold strong over the final stages has given me a lot of confidence. To get a top-10 in a world series race is fantastic, I'm really stoked.''
New Zealand Olympic reserve Clark Ellice also raced well, finishing 15th overall thanks to a spirited effort in the swim and bike.
"It was a pretty solid result for me,'' he said. "I swam strongly and rode aggressively on the bike, but had a few stomach issues on the run and that's what got me.''
London-bound Bevan Docherty felt the effects of fatigue following his late arrival from California, coming in 22nd.
Triathlon New Zealand national coach Greg Fraine was happy overall with the results from the Kiwi men.
"It was a quality field, one of the better fields of the year and Tony and Clark really stepped up today,'' Fraine said.
"Tony was running shoulder to shoulder with some great athletes. It's a testament to the hard work he's been putting into training and shows he's on target for Rio in 2016.
"Bevan struggled today, he said he was just feeling flat. For Kitzbuhel, he was trialling the best time to arrive into European time zone and still have a good performance. It's certainly not the result he was hoping for but he has taken away some learnings.''
