5 Nov 2011

Millward and Samuels win opening Rotorua triathlon

5:39 pm on 5 November 2011

Aucklander Callum Millward has again won the men's Contact Triathlon Series race in Rotorua, while Wanaka's Nicky Samuels took out the women's race in her first appearance at Blue Lake.

ITU World Cup winner Samuels, the world number 29, only just led out of the water but owned the race on the bike and was never headed, clearing out to a large margin with two-time Rotorua winner Maddy Brunton of Waikato coming through into second.

The men's race was a battle between Millward and Mark Bowstead from Glenbrook throughout, the two exiting the water side by side and heading out on to the run with Bowstead leading by just five seconds as the two half ironman experts put the rest of the field to the sword.

It was only on the second of the two laps around Blue Lake that Millward finally shook Bowstead from his tail, winning by 50 seconds.