Braden Currie confirmed that he is happy and healthy despite being forced to pull out of IRONMAN 70.3 Tasmania last weekend after a string of bad luck on the bike.

The 37-year-old Kiwi, who was competing for the first time this season, came out of the water just behind Javier Gomez in Hobart but ran into trouble after T1.

After stopping to change a flat tyre during the early stages of the race, the former IRONMAN World Championship runner-up was dealt a hard hand by the wet conditions in Australia.

“It was rough out there”

Recapping the race, Currie joked that he won the prize for fastest split from T2 to the airport, after a rough race from the get go with tough conditions in the water and wet road surfaces making things difficult.

“First race of the season. Windy and rough out back on the swim, finished behind @jgomeznoya and caught up to him in transition. Felt great so took the lead 10min in.

“Felt my tyre deflate instantaneously and stopped to change it. I decided not to go tubeless – paid the price with how long it took to change. @cjwurf got a flat too in the last 20km.

“He told me he didn’t know how to change his tube as normally the guys in the team car behind him sort that out for him. So he just rode it on the rim into T2 losing 6 minutes. 

“I spent 10 minutes changing mine, which meant I needed to treat the rest of the ride like XTERRA worlds.

“That didn’t work out for me on the TT. Two crashes later I knew the only thing I was achieving was turning my 90km ride box green in training peaks.”

“I’m confident my form is there”

Despite his misfortune, the two-time IRONMAN New Zealand champion said he’s confident his fitness is there and is looking forward to putting it to the test soon.

“It was rough out there. Unlucky for everyone with the wet conditions. It’s an epic course and would have been fun to race it upright. 

“I’m confident my form is there and 3 days later after recovering from my boxing match with the tar seal – I’m coming right.

“Got some great words from JR [John Rodgers] poolside on Monday afternoon who directed me to the stationary bike in the gym.

“Told me it might be safer that way. He still has his sense of humour and is easing me back into his 7-8km swim sets this week.”