A month after his Hawaiian Ironman meltdown, Australian triathlete Luke Bell has continued his return to form with a win at Challenge Shepparton.
Compatriot Rebekah Keat won the women's race for the fourth time, holding off Dutch star Yvonne van Vlerken.
Bell overheated on the bike in Hawaii's brutal conditions at the Ironman-distance world championships and did not start the marathon run.
He was taken to the medical tent and needed an IV drip.
Bell finished sixth last week at the Mandurah 70.3 race and on Sunday he dominated in the windy conditions.
The Victorian won in three hours 51 minutes 21 seconds.
Shepparton and Mandurah are half-Ironman races - a 1.9km swim, 90km swim and 21.1km marathon run.
Fellow Australian Sam Betten overtook Nick Kastelein in the run to take second with 3:55:17.
Kastelein completed the all-Australian podium, crossing the line in 3:55:49.
"Training has gone exceptionally well, I just haven't been able to deliver on race day which has been frustrating for the past six months," Bell said.
"It's just a matter of being patient, it always comes back around and its just nice for it to come back here."
Keat held off van Vlerken, her friend and teammate, to win the women's title again in 4:13:47.
A week after finishing second to Caroline Steffen at Mandurah, van Vlerken was runner-up again with 4:16:11.
Czech triathlete Radka Vodickova led after the swim, but a flat tyre put her out of contention and she took third in 4:28:29.
"It's very special to me, Challenge put on an amazing event," Keat said.
"I felt great on the run and I wanted to negative split it.
"But I felt a twinge in my calves with two km to go.
"I stopped for a little bit to see if I could push through it, popped some Nurofen and got through it."
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