Jess Learmonth has been in outstanding form but on a sweltering Thursday in and around Strathclyde Loch her grip on the European title was removed by triathlon’s most successful female athlete.

Nicola Spirig is 36, with two children and two Olympic medals, but the Swiss remains driven and after 1hr 59min 13sec she was crowned the continent’s best for the fifth time.

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Learmonth emerged first from the swim and broke away on the cycle in tandem with the French prospect Cassandre Beaugrand. Spirig played a game of catch-up, and then of cat and mouse. In the middle of the run she attacked mercilessly and the Yorkshirewoman was left behind.

“It was absolutely no surprise for her to be coming from behind,” Learmonth said. “I was ready for it, well I was trying to get ready for it, but I knew she wouldn’t be messing about. She jumped me straight away but luckily I was able to stay with her. I feel in the last two laps we worked together quite well and then she abandoned me.”

The men’s race will bring Alistair Brownlee back to the event he has dominated for two Olympic cycles. Few, however, would guarantee a reenactment of his victory at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, when he beat his younger brother, Jonny, who will not line upon Friday.

Tenth at the Commonwealth Games in April, Alistair has been troubled by a persistent calf injury. His focus has only sporadically returned to the Olympic distance during an attempt to reinvent himself as a long-distance maestro on the Ironman circuit.

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Jonny’s fourth place at the World Triathlon Series leg in Hamburg last month was the best of an inconsistent season. Over the past decade the siblings have achieved 57 WTS podiums, but their compatriots four.

By contrast British women face a ferocious scrap for selection for the Tokyo Olympics. While their male counterparts have drawn a medal blank, four female Britons have made the top three this year with Vicky Holland, the Olympic bronze medallist in 2016, winning in Edmonton and Leeds, and Georgia Taylor-Brown, Non Stanford and Learmonth piercing the top three.

“It’s ridiculous,” Learmonth said. “People can’t even get into races. But that’s great to see. It makes us all better. We have a WhatsApp group and before every race we do wish each other luck. We are quite tight knit. But I’m not sure why there is so much depth. The performance centres are quite good. It gives us a good chance to do well but it is going to make it very hard to get to Tokyo.”

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Equalising the sexes will be an issue for the incoming British Triathlon performance director, Mike Cavendish, who arrives from athletics next month. The bottom line, says the team’s coach, Ben Bright, is that success is hard. “You saw Marc Austin getting bronze at the Commonwealth Games,” he said. “We have people like him who can get medals but to do it consistently, with all the training and preparation, and the ability to get that right every time, it’s tough.

“Ali and Jonny make it look easy. We’ll back others to learn how to do it but it takes time.”

Two years out from Tokyo it may need a renaissance from both Brownlees, or others to front up, to secure the maximum of three men at the Olympics. “It is absolutely not a given,” Bright said.

Team GB secure place in men’s gymnastics team final

Great Britain secured their spot in the men’s team final at the European Gymnastics on Saturday, with second place behind Russia in qualifying in Glasgow.

Max Whitlock surprisingly missed out on a berth in the individual floor final on Sunday, however, with the Olympic champion in the event coming 23th with a mark of 13.600. The Englishman did qualify for the pommel final in third place with Northern Ireland’s Commonwealth champion Rhys McClenaghan leading the scoring.

Dom Cunningham booked a medal shot on the floor, Courtney Tulloch did likewise in the rings while the 18-year-old Joe Fraser reached the finals of both the parallel and horizontal bars. Mark Woods