Bermuda triathlete Tyler Butterfield has turned in another stunning Ironman performance, beating some of the world's top athletes – and doing so after he had to stop and repair his bike.

At the 70.3 Ironman in St. Croix yesterday, the Bermudian placed third as he continued his impressive build-up to the biggest Ironman event of all in Hawaii later this year.

In a field of more than 800, with the pros vying for $50,000 in prizemoney, 28 spots were up for grabs for those hoping to fly to Hawaii.

And although Butterfield has already been assured his berth in that race, he again showed why he might go into that event as one of the top-10 pre-race favourites.

Over yesterday's picturesque course – 1.2 mile swim, 65-mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run – Butterfield clocked four hours, 10 minutes and 38 seconds, just four and a half minutes behind winner and former world junior champion Terrenzo Bozzone (4:06:02) with current World Long Course Ironman champion Tim O'Donnell placing second (4:06:39).

In hot, humid and hilly conditions, the Bermudian completed the swim in 26 minutes and five seconds, the bike ride in 2:24:29 and the half-marathon in 1:20:04.

Also in the field was Craig Alexander, the current Hawaii Ironman World Champion, who was forced to withdraw after crashing on his bike.

With swimming regarded the weakest of Butterfield's disciplines, he was only one minute behind the lead group of seven coming out of the water.

And he was in good position to make up more ground before being forced to stop six miles into the cycle course when his chain dropped and had to get off his bike to fix it.

That widened the gap to the leaders and he had to ride another leg of the course without any other competitor in sight.

But he eventually dismounted in seventh position and continued to pick off those in front of him on the run to place third.

Although it couldn't be confirmed last night how much Butterfield had won in prize-money, he said: "The bonuses from Tokio (sponsors) are good for more than the money – it means you don't settle for fourth place."

He has an incentive system built into his contract with Tokio Millenium Re which awards him bonuses for podiums in these types of events.

Yesterday marked the second time the Colorado-based triathlete has been on the podium at an Ironman 70.3 event – his first was in Monaco last year.