Day one of the European Triathlon Championships in Portugal has ended with its usual mixed bag of results for the GB squad. The ITU media team were tapped into the live TV broadcasts for the elite women and men but the two junior races were relegated to the finish line comments and live timing from the Danish wizards at Ultimate - we do like the new format, very comprehensive indeed. So, how did the day go down?

Things started well for the Junior women with Kirsty McWilliam earning a deserved second place despite falling twice on the run in conditions that saw several bike crashes due to the rain and cobbled surface not playing fair. Having exited the swim behind early pace setter, Anais Moniz (POR), McWilliam set about driving up the pace of the chasing bike group to ensure that the deficit was reduced to just 25 seconds at T2. The rain/cobble mix had removed two of the GB girls, Jodie Stimpson and Rebecca Milnes, leaving just Kirsty and Vicky Graves in the race.

On the run McWilliam and Emmie Charayron (FRA) quickly caught Moniz, but two slips on the wet cobbles denied the Scot the chance of a gold medal and she finished 12 seconds back but still ahead of the home favourite, Moniz. On her performance McWilliam said, "I feel a bit disappointed to be honest because I think I probably would have won had I not fallen over twice; however I have one more year as a junior and having now won a bronze and a silver medal at the European Championships I'll be looking to win gold in Holland next year." Vicky Graves finished in 29th place.

The next item on the menu was the senior women's race and here it wasn't really a matter of who would win but who would get the other places - betting against Vanessa Fernandes on home turf would have been cause for a lynching out there. Unusually for a women's race a reasonable large pack formed in the swim and created a 20-strong lead group on the bike. Kerry Lang worked hard to try to establish a breakaway but Fernandes was maintaining a strong grip and the break never materialised. As with the earlier junior race, the mix of rain and cobbles proved too much for some and Vanessa Raw was one of those forced into an early exit.

As soon as the group hit T2 it was a case of 'bye, bye Vanessa' as the reigning World Champion headed off into the distance opening up a 20+second gap in the first 2.5k lap and then extending it by as much again in the second lap. The chasing group of six had their work cut out and while Lang faded on the run, eventually finishing 17th, Nadia Cortassa (IT) kept up the pressure and took the silver while Lisa Norden (SWE) managed to out-sprint Nicola Spirig (SUI) to grab the bronze. Abbie Thorrington was also listed as a DNF.

Time for the junior men to do their stuff and with a Brownlee in the race there was always hope for another medal. At last year's Europeans in Copenhagen Alistair Brownlee took the title but younger brother Jonathan only managed a bronze after a breakaway split the bike group and stole a 30 second lead. Despite running the second fastest 5k of the day Brownlee was unable to catch Vincent Luis (FRA) and Joao Silva (POR) who produced a photo finish sprint ending to the race. Brownlee made up ten places in the run totake third place, just 18 seconds behind. Brownlee said of his bronze medal, "I'm really pleased. It was hard work but it was certainly worth it. Unfortunately three guys managed to get away in the technical section of the bike course and I couldn't bridge the gap back up to them. It was a bit hairy riding over the cobbles, but it made it interesting and I had a good time out there today." Jeremy Gilmour used his running ability to finish ninth in his first outing at this level but Matt Sharp had to stop for a wheel change after a puncture and finished 29th.

It would be unfair to call these three races just an appetiser but with Javier Gomez in the field it certainly looked like the main course was, indeed, about to be served. Richard Stannard led out the swim with the French duo of Belaubre and Poulat on his heels. With the battle lines drawn it was Olivier Marceau (SUI) who made the move and broke off the front of the pack to gain a small advantage over the first lap and as the laps passed he was joined by Simko and then Raelert, Zeebroek, and the French team of Moulai, Belaubre and Poulat to create a near two minute gap by lap eight. Will Clarke, Al Brownlee and Stannard were all in the main chase group with Gomez, a third smaller group was well adrift off the back.

By T2 the gap had been set at 2:14 and it looked like the breakaway group had the race pretty much sewn up with just the 10k run to go. Clarke and Brownlee were still in the chase group but Stannard had dropped back to the third group and was 3:40 adrift. By 2.5k into the run a trio of tricolours was established at the front with Moulai leading Belaubre and Poulat and the group of seven had begun to spread. With one lap to go the only real change was that Poulat had drifted back and it was going to go down to the wire between two Frenchmen with the only prize on offer to anyone else being a bronze - the Gomez group would be going hungry this time! In the end it was Olivier Marceau who came through with another sprint finish to take the last prize on offer, a fitting reward for his brave move on the bike.

Gomez ended the day in seventh, 1:42 back, while Will Clarke was 11th and Al Brownlee 15th. Gavin Noble (IRL) was 27th and Richard Stannard was 32nd. A day of interesting lessons!

British Triathlon's Performance Programme Director, Heather Williams, said, "Once again our junior performers have really excelled and produced some fantastic results for Corus Great Britain. Kirsty McWilliam thoroughly deserves her silver medal and probably would have taken gold if it wasn't for the fact that she fell twice on the run in slippery conditions. Jonny Brownlee really stepped up to the mark today and will have learnt a lot from this experience. Both of them will carry forward their performances to the World Championships in Vancouver next month and will be aiming for more success."