Flora Duffy led from start to finish as she cruised to victory in the Xterra Albay this morning.

Duffy finished some 12 minutes ahead of the field in her first appearance at the Philippines event.

The Bermuda triathlete completed the 1.5K-swim, 35K bike and 10K run in 2:43.40. Jacqui Slack, of Britain, was second in 2:56:51 while Australian Dimity Lee-Duke checked in third at 3:03:18. Renata Bucher, last year’s champion, was fifth in a time of 3:12:53.

“I’m very pleased with my performance; I had a good swim, bike and run today,” Duffy said.

It was the perfect way to start the season for Duffy, who had won seven XTERRA races last year, including the world championship, and intends to duplicate the feat in 2015.

“I didn’t expect it but I wanted it. I wanted to come here and win it but you never know in XTERRA; so many things can go wrong out there so I’m just pleased and relieved to cross the line and win,” she said.

Seeing how Duffy had maintained a blistering pace, Slack abandoned efforts to steal the win.

“I tried to catch up but I knew how good Flora is and I knew I was probably racing for second place, anyway,” she said.