Joe Skipper proves health issues behind him after Ironman podium finish

There was doubt around Joe Skipper’s fitness leading into Ironman New Zealand last weekend, but that was crushed along with most of the competition. Skipper answered the lingering question about his racing readiness after a rough season last year that forced an early end to racing following a health scare.

The British athlete raced under a cloud of doubt but emerged second in Taupo, ceding only to winner Mike Phillips. Jack Moody rounded out the podium in third. Phillips’ win made for his third consecutive one in his home country, while fellow Kiwi runner up Moody added to his previous podiums in 2019 and 2023.

Skipper didn’t make it out of the water with the front pack but lead the chasers after exiting about three and a half minutes back in the thirteenth place. By the halfway mark on the bike the chase group was about three minutes behind the lead group of seven that included Phillips and Moody. The lead group started to splinter around 120km with Moody dropping back and Phillips still up front.

Skipper and Moody work together on the bike

Skipper and Moody worked well together to make gains on the lead pack but Phillips got away making a break for it. The breakaway gave Phillips almost a minutes and 40s seconds on the rest of the field going into T2. He held strong for the first half of the marathon, but then Moody found another gear and was closing the gap. It was a gap that was eventually overtaken by Skipper, who also couldn’t catch Phillips at the front but finished in second about three minutes behind. Moody held onto third after his initial surge to overtake Phillips fizzled.

Skipper’s performance was not only a triumph after dropping out of Ironman Lake Placid last year, after which he publicly announced he would be taking a break, but on Saturday he also broke Andrew Staykowicz’s bike course record. Skipper’s own course record, set in 2020, was also broken on the day by Phillips. The top seven athletes all went sub eight hours.

Related: Pros return to full Ironman racing this weekend in New Zealand

McCauley falls back on the run

On the women’s side, American Jocelyn McCauley came out of the water about two minutes back, but quickly took the lead on the bike. She was looking to take a third consecutive win but was overtaken by Switzerland’s Nina Derron on the run, who was then overtaken by Australia’s Regan Hollioake. Hollioake held on to the lead for the rest of the race while McCauley went back and forth with Derron, ultimately holding on to second by the finish. Derron retained her place finishing in third. McCauley had dominated on the bike and a third win looked possible, but despite a six minute leadheading out on the run her lead diminished quickly and she was unable to recoup the loss.

Another favourite going in was Britain’s Fenella Langridge. She came out of the water in second but struggles on the bike lead her to drop out. Langridge was also attempting a comeback like Skipper after a rough season last year.

The official Ironman Pro Series kicks off this month with Ironman 70.3 Geelong on March 23 and Ironman South Africa African Championship on March 30.