After winning the first leg of the million-dollar Triple Crown, Anne Haug consolidated her position amongst the sport's premier half-distance athletes with an impressive win over a stacked field at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside. The German flew past 2016 Ironman 70.3 world champion Holly Lawrence (GBR) to take her second big 70.3 title of 2018.

Haug trailed swim leaders Sarah True (USA) and Lawrence by almost 2:30 after the swim, but managed to claw back 40 seconds of that deficit on Lawrence heading into T2 as the race turned into a two-woman battle. Heather Jackson was third off the bike, but was almost five minutes behind Lawrence starting the run.

Out on the scenic final leg of the race that follows the Oceanside waterfront, though, the day became the Anne Haug show as the German blasted through the run course in 1:16:24, over six minutes faster than Lawrence, to firmly cement her status as a potential Daniela Ryf rival for the 70.3 world title later this year. True ran her way past Jackson to round out the podium.