Maier had been gunning for her sixth title at New Zealand’s premier one-day staged race from the West Coast to the East Coast of the South Island — and thus becoming the most crowned woman in the event.
She settled for second behind Lynch, who won last weekend in 13hr 6min 11sec.
Maier, the top seed, was just 4min behind at the New Brighton finish line, completing in 13:10.30, with Elina Ussher, of Nelson, another 12min back.
It was a maiden win for Lynch, who had placed sixth in both 2024 and 2023.
"I was not letting up the whole way," she said.
"Even on that last stretch along the boulevard, I was like, ‘she [Maier] could come’, so ... I was redlining the whole way."
Although Maier’s historic sixth victory evaded her, she said the race was "fantastic".
"It’s second place but I wanted to race, and I did say whoever beats me deserves it and, today, Debbie had an amazing race."
Meanwhile, the men’s world championship of multisport silverware is heading to Australia for the first time in 32 years.
Tasmanian Alex Hunt completed the podium set with a stunning victory on Saturday, beating defending champion Hamish Eliot, of Wanaka, by just over 4min.
It was Hunt’s seventh Longest Day.
He was third in 2023 and second last year.
"This race is even harder to win if you come from overseas," he said.
Hunt, coached by Gordon Walker, is the third overseas athlete to win the Longest Day crown, following Rockley Montgomery (South Africa) in 1992 and fellow Australian John Jacoby in 1993.
— APL
