A strong bike leg saw Candice Hammond overtake the field to win the Cairns 70.3 Half Ironman on June 8. Photo/File
A strong bike leg saw Candice Hammond overtake the field to win the Cairns 70.3 Half Ironman on June 8. Photo/File
Wanganui expat Candice Hammond won the women's section of the Cairns 70.3 Half Ironman last weekend when the fastest bike split of the day's competition took her to the finishing tape just ahead of Japan's triple Olympian Kiyomi Niwata.
The Cambridge-based Hammond would complete the distance on June 8 in4h 24m 02s in rough tropical North Queensland conditions where the rain fell steadily throughout. It was her second half ironman distance win for the year.
After the 1.9km swim, Hammond was able to pass race favourite Caroline Steffen of Switzerland, whose flat tyre on the 90km bike leg saw her drop out of contention after a very good opening leg where she completed the swim in under 26 minutes.
Niwata and Lisa Marangon had followed Steffen out of the water at Palm Cove, while Hammond was around four minutes back.
The cycling leg was a winding course up Captain Cook Highway toward Port Douglas and with Steffen dropping out, Hammond took charge despite the rain and strong winds.
She caught and passed the nine riders ahead of her to compete this section in 2h27m28s, with Marangon sitting second.
A strong finisher on the run, Hammond extended her advantage and then held off Niwata, who had to come from further back after the bike leg, to win by just over four seconds.
Fellow Kiwi Anna Russell came third, with Marangon finishing fourth.
