Cameron Brown makes it nine Ironman NZs

Defending champion Cameron Brown gave the pretenders to his Ironman New Zealand crown a master class in multisport as he picked up his ninth title in 10 years in Taupo.

Brown may have been third entering the 42.2km marathon, trailing leader and last year's runner-up Terenzo Bozzone by more than one minute, but the 37-year-old veteran had everything well in control.

By 6km, he was in the lead then eased away to lead Bozzone by 1min 40sec after 20km.

On the back of a solid swim, Brown had timed his cycle superbly in clocking four hours 40 minutes 29 seconds, his fastest effort ever here on the bike.

A 2hr 47min 35sec marathon, in which he seemed to get progressively stronger despite the ever-increasing wind, secured a him a superbly constructed 8hr 21min 52sec win.

Second place went again to Bozzone in 8hr 30min while Kieran Doe picked up a hard-earned third in 8hr 34min 16sec.

While the win eventually proved conclusive, Brown said afterwards that it took a long time and a lot of work before he felt the race was in the bag, especially when Bozzone had ground out a 7min-plus lead halfway through the 180km cycle.

"I was getting pretty scared - I thought the title was over, really. There was a lot of worry going through my head," he said.

"But as soon as that second lap, and the splits started coming down, it was reassuring. Terenzo was riding like a man possessed in those early stages."

Brown's experience came to the fore as he stuck to his gameplan, although he admitted afterwards that there weren't too many other options available.

"If I'd gone any harder, I would have blown so I just held back. Terenzo was riding extremely fast so I just had to let him go."

In perfect early morning conditions, Doe sliced through 3.8km of the cool, calm waters of Lake Taupo in 45min 38sec, nearly 50sec ahead of Bozzone, with Brown another 3min astray. Bozzone's all-out approach built impressive momentum on the cycle - after 45km of the two-lap 190km circuit, he had powered away to lead Doe by more than 3min 40sec at the first turnaround outside Reporoa, although the dreadlocked Doe hadn't looked too comfortable early on.

Brown, chasing hard, was another 1min 10sec behind Doe at the first turnaround.

But a focused Brown continued to pace his ride well, catching Doe at about the 70km mark. James Bowstead, who finished second in the Tauranga half ironman in early January, was the big mover as the cycle leg approached halfway. He picked up a massive 4min on Brown and Doe, eventually joining the pair going into Taupo at the 90km mark.

But the effort took its inevitable toll, and at the three-quarter mark Bowstead had slipped off the back of Brown and Doe.

Bozzone's lead was still steady at about 6min but as the cycle leg neared the business end and the southeasterly wind strengthened, Brown and Doe upped the tempo and started to make serious inroads into the lead.

With 30km to go, Bozzone's lead stood at around 3min 40sec, and 10km later the 25-year-old sat up in the saddle as Brown and Doe closed the gap to under 2min.

With his eye already on the marathon run, Bozzone eased off the pedals in the closing stages, but still managed to lead by more than 1min going into the second transition.

However Brown, who last year set a Taupo ironman record of 8hr 18min 5sec in winning his eighth title, cruised through to hit the front after 6km and from then on, the race was his to lose.

- NZPA