After a near fatal accident last year, Taupo Ironman champion Terenzo Bozzone is back, confirming he feels fitter and stronger than ever.
Last July , Bozzone was involved in a hit and run while cycling in Kumeu - suffering serious head trauma, a broken eye socket and hand, as well as fractured ribs.
Now fully recovered, and coming off the back of wins in both the Western Sydney 70.3 race and the Western Australia Ironman, Bozzone is training in his "pain cave", setting up a wind trainer to create a virtual world in his own home, keeping him off the road.
"I'm in here four, five, six sessions a week and only on the road once a week," Bozzone told 1 NEWS.
The move to train inside is an understandable change from Bozzone, having nearly lost his life doing what he loves.
"I want to come home at the end of a ride - more than anything.
"I enjoy training and want to come home and see my family."
The Kiwi Ironman champion collided with a truck in July last year.
Wife Kelly Bozzone has witnessed her husband's recovery closer than anyone, unable to contain her emotion about the ordeal.
"He's just blown my mind," she says.
"I think he was back out on his bike three or four days later, some nights I'd go to sleep like, 'I actually don't even know you, you are incredible'."
For Bozzone, next weekend will see him out to defend his Taupō title, having finally achieved a win in 2018 after too many close finishes to count.
Still, he isn't getting carried away ahead of another tilt at Taupō glory.
"As you kind of progress through your career, you realise that wins don't happen every weekend," he says.
"When they do happen, it's a very special thing."
And having come back from the challenges thrown his way, Bozzone insists that the best is yet to come.
SHARE ME