SIAN BRICE had to settle for fifth spot after a nightmare race in the European Cup.

The Olympic-bound 29-year-old travelled to Stein in Holland hoping to bring a medal back to St Albans as part of her build up to Sydney 2000.

But on a day when virtually everything that could have gone wrong did, she was just relieved to have come through her most treacherous triathlon unscathed.

An horrific swim, in which she was dragged under several times by her rivals, freezing cold conditions and torrential rain all combined to leave a battered Brice back in fifth spot and looking forward to September and the sunnier climes of Sydney.

She said: 'It was disappointing because I went out there half hoping to win. In the end, with everything that went on, I was just glad I finished and pretty amazed to come home in fifth spot.

'The swim was really, really rough and the bike ride was so cold. It started to rain so hard you couldn't see and being in a big group, there was surface water everywhere.

'Then when the transition to the run came, I was so cold I took a while just getting my shoes on. By then, the group had pulled away, but I managed to close the gap a bit.

'Afterwards I was just glad I'd finished, but later on at the presentation, I didn't want to watch. I just wanted to get out of there.

'I suppose the one consolation is that I don't think I will ever have a race as bad as that again.'

Brice's problems began as soon as the talented field took to the water for the first of two laps around a tight circuit.

With the Great Britain athletes sporting their names on the back for the first time, the St Albans star became the target of the sort of tactics that have marred several major triathlons.

First Brice felt herself pulled under, then she was dragged back by the leg as she battled with a German competitor to lead the pack chasing the breakaway.

Although she managed to pull clear on the second lap of the swim, the damage had already been done and when she emerged from the water to be greeted by the chilly conditions, she was already two-and-a-half minutes behind the race leaders.

Things got worse for Brice as the cyclists were greeted with driving rain that made visibility almost impossible in the open countryside.

And with fellow Brit Julie Dibbens pushing the front three on in her personal bid to join Brice and Steph Forrester in the Olympic team, the chasing pack stood little chance of closing the gap.

The surface water and subsequent spray caused by the large group meant Brice was happy not to crash, especially after seeing another German rival ruled out of the Olympics after breaking her arm in one such fall.

And she was even happier to find her split for the 10km bike ride was among the top ten quickest, proving that she is well on the way to ironing out the technical problems that have caused some concern in recent races.

The cold conditions made the simple process of putting running shoes on a real chore and as she struggled to swap footwear, Brice saw her hopes of a medal finally fall flat.

But she refused to give in and provided testament, if any was needed, to her competitive qualities with a fabulous finale in the run.

Her split time for the final discipline was the third quickest of the day and saw her and another athlete finally leave the main pack behind to secure the first two places outside the medals.

The race was won by Belgium's Cathlene Smet, with Magali Messmer of Switzerland second and Britain's Dibbens is likely to make the Olympics after finishing third.