Tyler Butterfield's professional triathlon season just keeps getting better with the former top cyclist pulling off a magnificent third-place finish in the prestigious Monaco Triathlon.

Butterfield, who lives and trains in Colorado, finished the famous 70.3-mile course in an impressive time of four hours, 20 minutes and 10 seconds to claim a position on the podium out of a massive field of more than 1,000 athletes.

According to reports, after an impressive swim and cycle, he roared home in the last mile of the run, overtaking the third and fourth-placed competitors to take third position.

Close friend Greg Hopkins said last night: "This is a tremendous performance. This is one of the top triathlon events in the world with some of the leading professionals taking part."

The 26-year-old Butterfield reverted to triathlon more than a year ago and has impressed on the pro circuit with Sunday's spectacular performance following on from his recent runner-up finish at the 5430 Long Course Triathlon in Boulder, Colorado.

Started by Prince Albert of Monaco, the gruelling race saw Butterfield finish 24th out of the water (27 minutes and 49 seconds) and then use his cycling experience to move up the field to tenth, covering the 56-mile ride in two hours, 33 minutes and 31 seconds.

He was also strong over the half-marathon run, finishing the loop through the Principality in one hour, 12 minutes and 40 seconds to come in some five minutes behind champion Axel Zeebroek (4:15:16), of Belgium, and Austria's Michael Weiss (4:19:37).

Butterfield represented Bermuda in triathlon as an amateur at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 before turning to full-time cycling where for some three years he was based in France and the USA. During that time he cycled for Bermuda at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

He is married to professional cyclist Nikki Egyed, and was back in Bermuda earlier this year when he finished second to Chris Estwanik in the May 24 Marathon Derby.