Brownlee targets one that got away at Europeans

WORLD triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee will team up with younger brother Jonathan to spearhead Great Britain's assault on the European Championships in Athlone, Ireland next month.

ONE THAT GOT AWAY: Alistair Brownlee will bid to secure the one main honour that eluded him last season at the European Championships (onEdition)

Brownlee senior, 22, made a fine return to action in Madrid last weekend with an emphatic victory in the third leg of the World Championship series, having been forced to sit out the opening two events.

He had suffered a femoral stress fracture back in February but picked up from where he left off last season, having topped the podium in each of the five races he entered, including the grand final in the Gold Coast.

The one major race Brownlee failed to win last year however was the European Championships where arch rival Javier Gomez of Spain pipped the Brit to gold in the Netherlands.

"I've been very pleased with how things have gone since returning from injury," he said.

"I genuinely didn't expect to win in Madrid and I'm excited by the prospect of another battle with Javier Gomez in Ireland for the European title.

"European athletes are doing very well this year, and the event has attracted a very strong field. It's going to be tough, but there are no easy wins in triathlon and I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Brownlee junior, 20, meanwhile, is the current European junior champion but makes the step up to senior level, as does fellow Brit and Beijing Olympian Hollie Avil, the reigning world under-23 champion.   

Will Clarke, Olly Freeman and Phil Graves complete the men's Great Britain team, with the former having impressed at Hy-Vee ITU Triathlon Elite Cup in Des Moines, Iowa on Sunday, coming home sixth.

Joining Avil in the women's ranks is Katie Ingram, Abbie Thorrington, who races at senior European level for the first time and Vanessa Raw competes, having won the British Triathlon Super Series event in Windsor on Sunday.

British Triathlon performance director Heather Williams said: "We are sending a strong team to the Europeans. Obviously Alistair Brownlee is going to be closely watched, but Will Clarke also had a strong performance at the weekend.

"Most of the team will spend the next two weeks at a preparation camp in Portugal, so they will race straight off the back of a period of hard work. Our key goals remain the Dextro Energy ITU Triathlon World Championship London and the Grand Final in Budapest."