PTO European Open: Anne Haug’s red-hot run overhauls Lucy Charles-Barclay's effort to seal title in Ibiza

Lucy Charles-Barclay was unable to cap a memorable winning return to racing as Anne Haug’s red-hot run overhauled her advantage and fired the German veteran to the PTO European Open title in Ibiza. British star Charles-Barclay, 29, was making her hotly-anticipated comeback and led the middle distance 100km contest for significant periods. Ad But she failed to maintain her sizeable lead from the swim and bike stages as Haug, 40, leapfrogged her and Australian Ashleigh Gentle to soar to the summit of the podium.

European OpenHaug continues red-hot streak to win PTO European Open2 HOURS AGO Emma Pallant-Browne, Charles-Barclay’s compatriot, finished fourth as fellow British star India Lee ended seventh in the innovative Balearic battle. Run by the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO), the European Open marked the first of four events on the annual calendar as the progressive start-up bids to enhance the visibility and profile of the sport. Charles-Barclay set the unsurprisingly early pace on the swim as she opened up a 24-second advantage heading into the opening transition.

Dutch star Lotte Wilms was second ahead of New Zealand’s Rebecca Clarke as Gentle and Haug sat further back in the field. Charles-Barclay continued to lead throughout the 80km cycle and looked comfortable ahead of Canadian Paula Findlay, Commonwealth Games team gold medallist Gentle and Wilm. Haug, the 2019 Ironman world champion, sat almost two and a half minutes behind Charles-Barclay as she left herself with a sizeable deficit to overhaul heading into the 18km run.