With plenty of elite and Age-Group action taking place in Madrid, there was also British interest in Challenge and IRONMAN events this weekend.
David McNamee overcame a crash to earn his first podium finish in a year with silver at Challenge Salou.
The Ayrshire star shared a compelling battle with French favourite Mathis Margirier and reached the podium in front of a bumper crowd in perfect conditions on Spain's Costa Daurada.
McNamee was ten seconds shy of the lead after the swim with Margirier first out in 23 minutes and 30 seconds, alongside compatriot Baptiste Neveu and Charlie Quin of Australia.
The two-time World Championship bronze medallist came into his own on the bike leg and pushed the pace alongside Margirier.
Neveu, Quin and Pablo Dapena were chasing hard but the two leaders built a five-minute lead coming into second transition - when disaster struck for McNamee.
"I had a good swim and one of the best bike rides I ever had, but there was a bit of a problem going into T2," he said.
"I never really saw the dismount line, all of a sudden it was upon us and we both had to get off the bike very quickly.
"Mathis managed to stay up somehow and I wasn’t as flexible or dynamic, so I hit the ground pretty hard."
McNamee showed true grit, defying wrist and back issues to stay in touch with Margirier as the gap remained at 15 seconds in the midway period of the run.
But the Frenchman then burst clear for gold, with McNamee sewing up silver with a strong run to hold off the late charge of Quin.
Margirier took gold in 3:24:23 with McNamee two minutes behind in 3:26:18, with Qui third in 3:29:35.
"Mathis was incredible," said McNamee. "He’s such an incredible athlete and he’s having a phenomenal year. It would have been hard to beat him even without the crash, obviously without it I think I could have pushed him a lot closer on the run. That’s racing sometimes."
McNamee's last podium finish came with silver at Zarauzko Triathlon in June 2022. He finished 11th at last month's European Open and sixth in Samorin.
On the women's side, 25-year-old Megan McDonald finished sixth in her third Challenge event.
Kiwi Rebecca Clarke dominated the swim, emerging more than a minute ahead of her closest rival with McDonald third out of the water in 26:13.
Clocking 2:08.00 on the bike, McDonald remained in touch but struggled in punishing run conditions and crossed the line sixth in an overall time of 4:08:18.
McDonald is in her first full season on the Challenge Circuit, taking bronze in Gran Canaria having banked ninth on debut in Mallorca last October.
IRONMAN Hamburg this weekend saw Sam Proctor finish 19th and James Scott-Farrington 28th. The event was also the location of a tragic incident involving an athlete and escort motorcycle.
"British Triathlon are saddened to hear about the incident that occurred at IRONMAN Hamburg over the weekend. The triathlon family is a sporting community that extends around the world, and our thoughts and condolences are with all those involved and affected."
The Europe Triathlon Championships in Madrid this weekend were competed over the duathlon format for both elite and Age-Group athletes. Read the full reports on the buttons below.
Elite Triathlon Elite Paratriathlon Age-Group
