Kyle Smith‘s season is over after he broke his collarbone in what he called a “silly little low speed” bike crash.
The Kiwi was one of the stars of the T100 last season, finishing runner-up in a sprint thriller in San Francisco, second again in London and then fourth in the Grand Final in Dubai to take second in the overall standings and a $140,000 bonus.
He then went on to finish a fine fourth in the IRONMAN World Championship on home turf in New Zealand.
This season hasn’t quite hit the same heights but he’s still managed T100 top fives in San Francisco and Vancouver.
‘I guess 2025 wasn’t meant to be my year’
The T100 finale is in Qatar this year on December 12 and Smith was on the start list but will now be recuperating back home in New Zealand.
Writing on Instagram, he explained: “Just woke up from surgery! Not how I wanted 2025 to end but I guess 2025 wasn’t meant to be my year.
“Silly little low speed crash and stopped straight on my shoulder. Should have been quicker. 😉 just wanted to say thank you to @keira_mcvitty for being my saving grace and to all the amazing Rotorua hospital staff who are such unsung heroes. @brazier10 gets a special mention for running a marathon to come save me.
“I’ll be back. Just happy to put 2025 in the rear view and look forward to 2026.”
He confirmed to us at TRI247 that it was a collarbone break.
Roll on 2026
And one of the first to comment was his coach Dan Lorang, who also looks after the likes of recently-crowned IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Lucy Charles-Barclay, Taylor Knibb and Frederic Funk.
Lorang wrote: “Let’s leave behind the year 2025 and look forward to an exciting year 2026! You know what you are carrying inside of you, we just have to put the puzzles pieces again together in the right order 👊🏻”
