KEY POINTS:
Shattered by the disappointment of missing a place in the New Zealand triathlon team for the Beijing Olympics, Terenzo Bozzone went into a tailspin. But not for long.
Yesterday, in an amazing debut outing in the event, Bozzone - a former world junior champion in more conventional duathlon/triathlon racing - saw off the country's best off-road competitors to score a stunning win in the New Zealand Xterra Championship.
Something more like normal transmission resumed in the women's race, however, as Tokoroa's Sonia Foote stormed home to win her third national crown.
Most eyes were on the rookie Bozzone. In the pristine setting of Rotorua's Blue Lake, he dominated the 1km swim and 11km run legs and turned in a more-than-useful effort on the 26km mountain bike to take the title by 20s from Palmerston North's Mark Leishman with Scott Thorne also edging past defending champion Tim Wilding to take third.
Rather than being a planned assault on the country's toughest off-road triathlon, it was a last-minute spur of the moment call by Bozzone to get his competitive juices flowing after missing out on a trip to the Olympics.
"I definitely wasn't on cloud nine when I heard I had missed out," said Bozzone, who lost out to New Plymouth's Shane Reed when the Triathlon New Zealand selectors named him to join Bevan Docherty and Kris Gemmell on the start line in Beijing.
"I was lying on the table having a massage on Thursday when it was suggested I have a go at the Xterra," said Bozzone. "I came down on Friday, rode the first half hour of the bike leg and thought: what have I let myself in for?"
If he was concerned about the challenge the bike leg presented, it did not show once he hit the water. He was first out of the chilly lake after a smart 12m 21s swim. After a smooth transition, he held his own on the early, demanding stages of the mountainbike section.
Bozzone was caught by Wilding just before the testing single file section but was able to restrict his losses to just over three and a half minutes heading on to the run.
By the end of the first lap around the tranquil lake, Bozzone had Wilding, Thorne and Leishman in his sights. He quickly ticked them off and charged home.
But whether Bozzone will now attempt to follow Hamish Carter on to the world stage to complete the double remains doubtful.
"I'm not sure about the worlds," said Bozzone. "I want to give the world half ironman a decent shot. The year is still young and I haven't mapped out my programme yet."
Foote put her victory - by more than three minutes over Susie Wood - down to "amazing legs on the bike and run" on the back of a personal best swim.
"My better speed on the bike seemed to transfer to the run," said Foote. "And that got me home."
Defending champion Gina Ferguson was the first out of the lake and over a minute faster than Foote on the run but was blown away by Foote's pedal power.
