Le Floch came off the bike in close proximity to the leaders, but Leder found herself well behind race favorites Bella Comerford and Nina Kraft as she started the marathon. In the end, the two multiple-Ironman champions ahead of the German pulled out of the race, leaving the door open for the 35-year-old to claim her third Ironman title. (Leder won Ironman Asia in 2000 and Ironman Brazil in 2002.)

Considered one of the toughest Ironman events, this year the race on the beautiful island of Langkawi proved even more of a challenge thanks to a new bike course that included many steep hills. While the temperature didn't hit record highs, it did reach the high 30s Celsius (close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit) which, coupled with the high humidity, made things very difficult for the competitors.

The day began with a warm swim in Kuah Bay. The athletes entered the water close to the famed Eagle Statue that provides a unique backdrop for the transition area and finish here at Lotto Ironman Malaysia.

Leading the way out of the water was New Zealand's two-time Ironman Malaysia champ, Bryan Rhodes, who was quite happy to set the pace on the bike, too. Rhodes couldn't pull away from some of his quick competition, and found himself spending much of the ride in a group that included Great Britain's Andrew Johns and Stephen Bayliss, Australia's Mitch Dean, Brazil's Reinaldo Colucci, and Le Floch.

With just 15 km to go on the bike Johns got a flat tire which dropped him from the group as they rode into T2. Rhodes once again tried to open a gap on the men around him starting the run, but it didn't take long before Le Floch had moved to a lead that he wouldn't relinquish. Johns managed to slowly move his way into second, but as he tried to push towards the front during the third lap of the four-loop course, Le Floch answered with a surge of his own that brought him to the line well ahead.

Johns came second, while Dean hung on for third. Byunhoong Park ran his way to fourth, a position ahead of the fastest runner on the day, Austria's Gernot Seidl, who used a 2:58 marathon (the only sub-three-hour run of the day) to claim fifth.

The battle of attrition saw Bayliss fade to sixth, and Colucci move down the rankings to 10^th.

The fastest age group athlete of the day was Austrian Thomas Vonach, who finished ninth overall.

Kraft handily led the women's race until about 135 km into the bike, when she was joined by a determined Comerford. By the end of the 180 km cycling leg the two were caught by Alison Fitch, setting up a dramatic start to the run that saw all three women within seconds of each other.

Kraft took off through the first two loops of the run, seeming on her way to another Ironman title in her first Ironman appearance since testing positive for EPO at the Ford Ironman World Championship in 2005.

Kraft suddenly pulled out of the race at the halfway point of the marathon, and was shortly followed to the sidelines by Comerford. That left Fitch in the lead, but she couldn't hold off the steady Leder, who overcame a gap of more than 15 minutes to eventually pass Fitch and cruise home for the win.

Fitch gamely hung on for second, holding off Yoko Hori. Rebecca Preston, who has only been training for about three weeks, considered her fourth place finish "as good as a win"� Fellow Aussie Belinda Harrison rounded out the top five, while last year's champion, Sonya Tajsich had the second-fastest run split of the day to move her to sixth.

There were record 700 over competitors who registered from 38 countries for this race  enjoying a truly unique event that certainly lives up to it's billing as the "Toughest Show on Earth"