Alistair Brownlee launched his comeback from ankle surgery with a fine second place at the first edition of Challenge Barcelona on Sunday, with the double Olympic Champion leading for large parts of the race.

Racing over the middle distance for the first time since the PTO Tour European Open in Ibiza in May, the Yorkshireman picked up the first podium of his season and got the ball rolling as he looks to race his way back into top shape.

Set to take on another strong field next weekend at Challenge Peguera-Mallorca, the 35-year-old Brownlee will have another chance to test himself as he looks to gear up for a strong end to the season.

Brownlee on Barcelona return

Having enjoyed the brilliant scenery on offer at the race course in Barcelona and a good battle with eventual race winner Youri Keulen, Brownlee appeared happy with his return to racing, but tellingly spoke of hopes for a better performance in Mallorca next weekend.

“It was a great race today, it’s fantastic here in Barcelona. We had a beautiful swim this morning as the sun was coming up over the sea, the ride around the city was cool, with a lapped course which worked well.

On to Mallorca

“On the run, I just tried to get into my own rhythm and knew it would get hard in the end, which it did! I hung on with Youri for a bit but with a kilometre to go, I knew I didn’t have anything left. The plan is to race in Mallorca next week, so hopefully I will be a little better there!” 

In Mallorca, Brownlee will take on newly-crowned IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Rico Bogen and his compatriot Frederic Funk, who finished as the runner-up in Finland, in what is set to be a fascinating showdown.