From the moment Kylie Simpson hit the front at the 150-kilometre mark on the bike at Ironman Australia, she was going to take some beating.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
And so it proved as the 39-year-old went to work over the closing stages to win the women's title in Port Macquarie on May 7.
Simpson (09:16:45) had a 13-minute deficit to make up once athletes exited the water at Westport Park before she went to work on the bike and cruised home to her first win in Port Macquarie.
Radka Kahlefeldt (09:25:04) and Fiona Moriarty (09:33:15) completed the top three placings on a course that Simpson conceded was "hard" although she felt the support of the locals throughout the day.
"I haven't raced in Port Macquarie before and everybody has been telling me about the crowd support so I was excited to experience that today and it was great," she said.
"There wasn't really any part of the course where you didn't have someone there."
The Brisbane-based athlete admitted it was part of her race plan to make the move on the bike leg with the 13-minute gap out of the water a pleasing result.
"I wanted to take control of the race, so getting onto the bike I executed that fairly well and managed to come off the bike first and then hold on in the run which is a strength of mine, but it was hard today," she said.
"The wind was picking up and I managed to hold on for the win."
More at home in the marathon part of the race normally, Simpson conceded the Port Macquarie course was a more difficult one - especially the bike course which took athletes west to Wauchope and surrounding areas.
"I came down five weeks ago and rode the new bike course so I was pretty confident there, but it took a lot out of me on the bike for the run legs. It definitely lived up to the expectations," she said.
"I think the run was the most difficult and coming from a running background, it was really windy. Each lap on the run it just got windier."
Sunday's race was Simpson's first at Ironman Australia, adding the victory to her 2021 Cairns Airport Asia-Pacific Championship and GWM Ironman Western Australia titles.
Her attention now turns to Cairns in six weeks.
"[The title of winner in Port Macquarie] sits pretty good. It's wonderful; it's been a great day," she said.
