Magnus Ditlev justified his position as the highest-ranked triathlete in the field by winning the opening round of the T100 World Tour in Miami.
The 6ft 4 Dane put in a perfectly paced display to work his way to the front of the field on the bike and then reeled in Alistair Brownlee in the final third of the run for victory in just over 3hrs.
Two-time Olympic champion Brownlee suffered over the closing stages to eventually finish fifth, overtaken by charging home favourite Sam Long in second, France's biking powerhouse Mathis Margirier in third, and - justifying his wildcard entry - Youri Keulen of the Netherlands in fourth.
"It feels amazing and a great start to the season," Ditlev said, having picked up $25k for the victory and maximum points in the race to be the inaugural T100 world champion. "I'm super stoked to take my first T100 win. I had a conservative plan because of the heat, so it was a controlled effort just below the limit."
Given it was the eagerly-anticipated first race in the new T100 eight-race series (athletes' best four races count, with bonus points on offer in the grand final), there was a sense of uncertainty over how well the triathletes' winter training had gone.
The Miami speedway circuit is also notorious for athletes suffering in the conditions with track temperatures soaring up to 50 degrees. It meant there was plenty of chopping and changing in the final stages and USA's Jason West, who won at this venue last year, took advantage by putting in the day's fastest run to finish seventh, just behind another wildcard Menno Koolhaas.
Miami T100: What happened in the swim?
Trying to distance clear threats later in the race such as West (run) and Ditlev (bike), it was little surprise that the 2km lake swim was taken out hard by the faster swimmers.
Sam Laidlow seized the initiative to drive the pace and halfway through the first of two laps a pack of 12 broke clear at the front.
Australian Aaron Royle took over the lead for the majority of the second lap before Ironman 70.3 world champion Rico Bogen led out of the water into T1,
Quickly pulling off his swim-skin and heading out on to the bike, the young German was followed by Royle, Brownlee and Keulen.
Ditlev was around 1min behind, with Long, Leon Chevalier and late wildcard entry Arthur Horseau at the back of the field at 2min 30sec, but with still a long way to go.
Miami T100: What happened on the bike?
France's Margirier was the aggressor from early in the 80km bike leg, as he blew past Bogen and set about making the most of his strongest discipline - even lapping athletes as the race went on.
Brownlee wasn't letting a gap develop and stayed in close attendance and with the 20m drafting rule in play, gaps started to appear early on the 22 laps of the Homestead Speedway.
Ironman world champion Laidlow also looked to have strong bike legs as he pushed into the leading trio, but it was Ditlev who posted the fastest bike split as he was able to close by the time they reached T2.
It meant the front four started the run together with the rest of the field more than 2min adrift and Long 3min back, having held the gap steady following the swim.
Miami T100: What happened on the run?
Rolling back the years, Brownlee moved straight to the front for the 18km run. It was a similar move to the one he made in the PTO European Open in Ibiza last May where he eventually faded to finish sixth.
This time the 35-year-old led until the final 5km before visibly wilting in the heat as he was clawed in by the relentless Ditlev.
Long, who trains in Arizona and won on the Miami course in the CLASH equivalent of this race two years ago, looked impervious to the conditions as he closed in on the podium, but time ran out before he could get Ditlev in his cross hairs.
Miami T100: Men's results
1. Magnus Ditlev 3:09:08
2. Sam Long 3:09:43
3. Mathis Margirier 3:10:08
4. Youri Keulen 3:10:47
5. Alistair Brownlee 3:11:43
6. Menno Koolhaas 3:11:55
7. Jason West 3:13:15
8. Daniel Baekkegard 3:13:51
9. Sam Laidlow 3:14:36
10. Aaron Royle 3:15:54
Top image credit: PTO
