Strong wind and rain took an already tough assignment up a few notches and it was Australia’s Cameron Wurf and perennial UK winner, Lucy Gossage who proved the best at handling the difficult conditions in Tenby to be crowned 2017 IRONMAN Wales champions.

Athletes made the most of the early morning conditions - the best of the day. Harry Wiltshire (GBR) led by the half-way point and completed the second lap with his lead intact, albeit a negligible one. He was followed immediately out of the water by a group consisting of Matthew Leeman (GBR), Antony Costes (FRA), Phil Graves (GBR) and Romain Guillaume (FRA).

The lead changed hands during the 1km run to T1 and it was Leeman to be first out onto the bike followed by Costes, Wiltshire, Guillaume, Germany’s Christian Kramer, Pavel Simko (SVK) and Graves with not much between them. Australia’s Cameron Wurf started over three minutes back on the group. The wind and rain started to become a factor on the bike from 10 am onwards, making progress tough. Wurf however, took little time in making up his deficit, taking the lead after 40km with Graves in second. The pair remained in the top two spots until T2, but Wurf, who came close to breaking the bike course record, had amassed a 09:17 lead over Graves. Kramer entered T2 in third followed by Guillaume.

The Australian remained strong on the run, but undeterred Wurf’s substantial lead, Graves put in a big effort to run the leader down. By the half-way point on the run, Wurf’s lead was cut down to six minutes, and with 2km to go, it was down to two-and-a-half minutes. Graves’s valiant effort would ultimately end in a second place as Wurf held on to win one of the toughest races of his career.

Speaking after the event, Wurf said: “What a day, it literally threw everything at me and it was exactly what everyone told me (IRONMAN) Wales would be like. It’s an amazing course and hard all day and it’s exactly what I need.

“The crowds here are just incredible, on the run I could barely hear myself think which is good I was obviously not thinking very nice thoughts at times because of what you’re going through so the crowd really takes that away. There are some amazing people here and I’ll be back for sure,” added Wurf.

Gossage rules in Wales once again

Kate Comber (GBR) took the early advantage from the swim, getting into the lead before the end of the first lap and continuing to exit the swim five minutes ahead of Emma Miles (GBR). Lucy Gossage (GBR) was a further 43 seconds back in third.

By the 40km mark, Gossage took the lead and, despite the difficult conditions, remained comfortable in her position. The real movement took place further back in the field with Parys Edwards (GBR) making her way up into second place after 90km. Gossage was more than comfortable, she was dominant; going into T2 with a nearly 14 minute advantage and her strongest discipline to come. Comber though, retook second position and entered T2 13 seconds ahead of Edwards.

Barring a breakdown, Gossage was a shoe-in for the win from this position and she duly proceeded to increase her lead. Edwards moved back into second position after 8km on the run and started to put distance between herself and Comber. Gossage would ultimately take the win by a huge margin of just under 24 minutes to cap off a brilliant performance in conditions she described as “biblical”. Edwards and Comber rounded out the podium in second and third respectively.

Lucy Gossage said: “Biblical is the word, it was pretty crazy on the bike! In a way you couldn’t bike hard because it was literally just trying to keep your bike upright. It was unlike any bike I’ve done before. The run was breezy, the crowds were epic, it’s crazy running through the town.

“I’ll admit, I do love this race. It’s everything about it but particularly this year because it was so epic. I’d love to race here every year,” added Gossage.

The 2018 edition of IRONMAN Wales takes place September 9, 2018. General entries for IRONMAN Wales 2018 opens September 18, 2017, on www.ironman.com/wales.