Tucker Murphy warmed up for this month’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in the best possible way at Clearwater Beach in St David’s yesterday.

The multiple Winter Olympian captured a maiden Aon Triathlon title after breaking away from the chasing pack during the final leg.

Murphy stormed to victory in 1hr 7min 1sec, crossing the finish line more than three minutes ahead of second placed Kent Richardson.

The margin of victory suggests Murphy had things all his own way but in truth he did not as a charging Richardson — who is 22 years older than Murphy — made a real fist of it on the bike before falling off the pace on the 3.1-mile run.

Murphy led the field out of the water in 13min 50sec and threatened to run away with proceedings after stretching his lead on the first lap on the 20-kilometre bike.

However, Richardson, who has been in impressive form competing overseas lately, refused to go down without a fight and managed to close the gap on the second lap before overtaking Murphy on the penultimate lap — much to the astonishment of onlookers.

Murphy did not panic, though, as he stayed right on Richardson’s back wheel heading into the final transition station where he regained the lead and put considerable distance between himself and the rest of the field coming in.

After catching his breath, Murphy said: “It’s always good to come out and feel like you have had a pretty solid race.

“I stayed fairly relaxed but I was still worried because the guys behind me are very strong. Kent had a hell of a bike and Mark [Robinson] was chasing him down on the run so there were a lot of strong guys out and it was nice to have a good day.”

Richardson was overcome with emotion after finishing second overall and first in his age group.

The experienced athlete covered the distance in 1:10:21 after holding off the charging Robinson in a sprint to the finish.

“It was a very good race and I am very happy,” Richardson said. “As you get older it is just harder to keep that pace but overall I am very pleased.”

Robinson completed the podium in 1:10:22.

There was also a new champion crowned among the women’s field as Karen Smith romped to victory in 1:12.04.

Smith, who was fifth overall, led from start to finish and crossed the finish line more than a minute ahead of second placed Laurie Orchard who finished in 1:13:33.

As convincing as her triumph was, Smith’s outing did not go without its share of challenges.

She said: “I swam really well but then on the first lap on the bike my legs were like dead and I could not get them moving.

“They were like resisting me and Laurie was catching me up and I was getting a little worried.

“So I tried to stay focused and ride as hard as I could to get to the transition first. I thought if I did I would have a decent run and be able to hold her off — and it worked out.”

Belinda Castree, who came home in 1:18:04, completed the top three in the women’s field.