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New Zealander Hayden Wilde enjoyed an impressive win in the World Triathlon series event in Yokohama, Japan, on Saturday (NZT).
Wilde had much to prove after a flat tyre contributed to him finishing 46th in the season opener in Abu Dhabi in early March, and he did so in style in Yokohama by winning in a time of 1hr 42min 13sec.
Although he only finished 4secs ahead of second-placed Matthew Hauser, of Australia, Wilde was in cruise-mode as he eased towards the finish line, taking the time to slap the hands of well-wishers while ensuring he wasn’t going to be overtaken.
The Commonwealth Games silver medallist was about 30s ahead of chasers Hauser and Portugal’s Vasco Viliaca when he elected to ease back the throttle and soak up the occasion for the last couple of hundred metres.
Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde. FILE PHOTO
Wilde was excellent in the swim and bike legs, but it was in the run where he showed his class; Wilde and Frenchman Léo Bergere raced away from the field but Bergere couldn’t maintain the pace set by Wilde.
“I was really going for that one,” Wilde said.
“I just wanted to do a bit better than Abu Dhabi [the last race of the series], unfortunately that was mechanical and I didn’t get to show what I really had out there.
“So I wanted to come out here and really give it some.”
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