A few misguided tactical decisions prevented Whangarei triathlete Sam Warriner from claiming her second consecutive title at the Ironman Geelong 70.3.
Warriner completed yesterday's 3km swim, 90km bike and 21km run in fourth place, nearly nine minutes behind the winner, Australian-based Swiss competitor Caroline Steffen, who stormed home in 4 hours
14 minutes and 32 seconds. Carrie Lester and Lisa Marangon were second and third respectively.
The victory was sweet for Steffen, who narrowly lost to Warriner in the final 5km of the run in last month's Port of Tauranga Half Ironman.
But for Warriner, it was a disappointing effort. "I'm pretty gutted, although it's early in the season," she said.
"I made a few wrong decisions, and my legs just didn't want to work ... it wasn't my day. I just have to accept it, that's racing."
Warriner started strongly, and exited the water first - a huge positive for her, as swimming is her weakest of the three disciplines.
The strong swim leg meant she rode up with a bunch of men who started before the women, and instead of sticking close to their wheels, Warriner elected to go it alone, but her legs wouldn't co-operate.
While the run is usually Warriner's strongest and favoured discipline, her legs were still sluggish when she came off the bike. Warriner struggled to find the speed she showed at Tauranga, and her run split was eight minutes slower than what she ran last month.
Warriner returned home today to resume training and preparing for the start of International Triathlon Union World Championship Series in April.
Meanwhile, the men's 70.3 title was won by last year's winner and Ironman world champion Craig Alexander, from
Australia.
