Evan Naude held off the challenge of his twin brother Riaan and Kris Hedges to win the Bank of Bermuda Foundation Triathlon in Hamilton yesterday.

The eventual winner thought his victory chances were gone when he was trailing Hedges by around a minute after the swim and bike sections of the race.

But with one mile to run to the finishing line, Hedges ran out of steam and Evan surged past him to win in a time of 59 minutes, 31 seconds.

Riaan also overhauled Hedges and crossed the line 49 seconds after his brother.

Former pro cyclist Hedges had to settle for third and Kent Richardson was fourth in the short course event comprising a half-mile swim, 12-mile cycle and three-mile run.

Top female finisher Karen Smith claimed her sixth title in the event, having won it every year since 1999, with the exception of 2003 when she was absent through injury.

Smith enjoyed an excellent swim in the calm water off Albuoy?s Point, remarkably coming out of the water ahead of all the top four male finishers, and finishing sixth overall.

The Naude twins, both chartered accountants, came to the Island from their native South Africa three years ago. They had previously competed in duathlons, but took up triathlon only 18 months ago.

After his first victory in the Bank of Bermuda event, Evan said: ?Kris was about a minute ahead of me after the bike and I thought to myself, ?now I?m racing for second place?.

?I could see Kris just ahead of me and I really found my legs in the second half of the run and caught him at the end of the second lap.?

The 29-year-old said there was healthy competition, rather than fierce rivalry between him and Riaan.

?We train together all the time and it?s great to have someone of your own standard to train with,? Evan said.

?On any given day, either one of us could beat the other, so I know when I?ve beaten Riaan I?ve done well.?

Hedges? strategy was to build up a lead ahead of the run. But he acknowledged that one minute had not been a sufficient cushion.

?I was hoping for a bigger lead from the swim ? something like 30 seconds ? but when I came out of the water I was only about ten seconds ahead of Evan,? Hedges said.

?Mentally, that was a real shock to the system and I took a while to settle on the bike. After going so hard on the bike, I didn?t have much left for the run.

?I?ve trained with these guys and I knew what lead I needed and I didn?t get it. So I knew they would catch me, it was just a question of when.?

Hedges finished in one hour and 52 seconds, two-and-a-half minutes ahead of fourth-placed Kent Richardson.

All four top finishers are tuning up for the World Age Group Triathlon Championships in Hawaii in three weeks? time, as is top woman finisher Smith.

Smith clocked 1:05:17 and was well satisfied with her winning performance.

?It was an excellent race for me,? Smith said. ?I really wanted to focus on the swim and the bike and the run turned out to be quite difficult ? it?s usually the best part for me.

?I?ve been training hard, doing lunchtime swims with a group of people who are faster than me. And I had a fabulous swim, it was great to come out ahead of the top guys.?

Smith has a double goal for the full triathlon distance event in Hawaii ? a top-ten finish and a Commonwealth Games qualifying time of inside 2:16.

There were also impressive performances yesterday from 40-year-old Norbert Meyer, who finished fifth overall in 1:04:16 and 14-year-old Dorian Armstrong who clocked 1:07:18, finished eighth and won the men?s 13-15 age group.

Greg Hopkins, a former national triathlon champion and winner of this event, came in 12th to win the 50-plus age group with a time of 1:08:11.