ALISTAIR Brownlee missed out on a triathlon medal at the European Championships in Glasgow.

The Bingley Harrier was in the leading group after the cycle stage but dropped out of contention midway through the 10km run, finishing fourth.

Frenchman Pierre Le Corre held on to take victory over fast-finishing Spaniard Fernando Alarza, with Belgium's Marten Van Riel in bronze.

Former Bradford Grammar School pupil Brownlee, who withdrew from June's World Triathlon Series in Leeds due to injury, was just content to be back in action.

"I knew I was going to struggle on the run as I've not done enough sessions yet, but I enjoy racing," he said.

"The swim was really hard, I got really beaten up at the start but that's all part of it. On the bike I got a group working but I couldn't really do anything on the run.

"I had a terrible six months, I've had a handful of run sessions so I can be quite pleased. I'm just happy to be racing. I didn't know what to expect, I've been training hard so I knew I was going to be tired going into it."

Brownlee, from Bramhope, finished in one hour 48 minutes 12 seconds as he came in 55 seconds behind Le Corre in the event which consisted of a 1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run.