He stepped up from Olympic distance last year to land IRONMAN 70.3 Lanzarote and Leo Bergère repeated the trick at Oceanside, even overcoming a bout of Covid in the build up.

It didn’t hold him back as he led the swim, despite struggles with the rising sun.

And it was the same on the bike as he remained in the front group throughout.

He used his speed on the run to kick clear of his rivals but then had to withstand an incredible charge from CLASH Miami winner Jason West who clocked a 1:07 half marathon to close within 12 seconds at the line.

Challenges to overcome

And the reigning WTCS World Champion said afterwards: “I had a bit of a struggle in the swim with the sun and couldn’t see where I was going at times so I had to take a little bit of time to orientate.

“And then on the bike I spent a lot of energy staying in that front group.

“On the run Jason was just flying there and I did everything I could to take the win but it was pretty hard.”