Left far behind in position covered by beat (12)

I believe the answer is:

outdistanced

'left far behind' is the definition.
(to outdistance is to leave a rival far behind)

'position covered by beat' is the wordplay.
'position' becomes 'stance' (stance is a kind of position).
'covered by' is an insertion indicator.
'beat' becomes 'outdid' (to outdo is to beat or do better than).
'stance' put into 'outdid' is 'OUTDISTANCED'.

'in' is the link.

(Another definition for outdistanced that I've seen is " Left (a competitor) far behind".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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