Flora Duffy returned to her absolute best with a virtuoso performance to crush the field at the Arzachena ITU Triathlon World Cup in Italy this morning.

Fastest out of the water, fastest on the bike and fastest on the run, the 33-year-old Bermudian was more than a minute clear of her 39 rivals by the time she crossed the line in 1hr 0min 53sec.

Duffy did the 750-metre swim in 9:11, the 20-kilometre bike in 33:35 and the 5km run in 16:55.

She hardly saw a rival after attacking the first uphill climb on the bike, leaving the likes of Katie Zaferes, the world No 1, having to settle for a chase for the podium places.

As it turned out, second place went to Beth Potter, of Britain, in 1:02:04, with Italian Verena Steinhauser third in 1:02:07. Zaferes was distant sixth in 1:02:18.

“I was super happy with the swim, as well as the overall race,” Duffy told World Triathlon. “Sorting out my swim was a main goal here and the bike course I knew I just had to attack. I wasn’t expecting to be riding solo but I’ve been there before so it didn’t freak me out.

“My coach and I had discussed what sort of power I’d need to use so I tried to ride hard but within myself and really maximise the descent, get aero and push.”