Following a dominant performance in Cape Town at the African Triathlon Union (ATU) African Cup earlier this year, Jerzyk brought her fine form to Europe as she climbed through the field in the run to finish comfortably ahead of France's Emmie Charayon in second.

After a relatively slow swim, the 26-year-old began clawing her way back up the field, finishing the 40 kilometre bike route in 11th place.

The run was where the Polish athlete really began to get into her stride however, as she fought to get alongside her French counterpart before powering ahead to finish an impressive 24 seconds ahead of her rival in a time of 2 hours 2min 39sec.

After a nip and tuck battle, Charayron had to settle for second place, matching her efforts in 2010 at this venue.

Katrien Verstuyft of Belgium completed the podium in third place and will be delighted to make such a confident start to 2014, with her first European Cup podium since 2010.

Emmie Charayron was forced to settle for silver for the second time in three years after dropping behind Agnieszka Jerzyk in the latter stages of the run ©Getty Images



In a pulsating men's race, Raphael was pushed right to the line by compatriot Aurélien Lebrun as the pair crossed the line neck and neck with the former taking the victory in the narrowest of margins.

Coming out of the water nearly a minute behind the eventual winner, Lebrun began clicking through the gears on the bike and in the run, leading to a sprint finish between him and Raphael.

Both crossed the line in the same time of 1:49:24, but it was Raphael who was eventually handed the win, marking his second victory on this course and his third podium at the venue in three years.

Lebrun had to console himself with second place and a silver medal with Great Britain's Gordon Benson completing the podium in third.

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