Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/789855
21 Sport CYCLING FORMULA 1 TENNIS maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 2017 Keith Galea wins the Agones Sprint Duathlon for the fourth consecutive year THE 2017 multisport calendar kicked off last week with the annual draft legal sprint dis- tance duathlon organised by Agones SFC. The race, which took place in Ħal Safi consisted of a 4.4km run, 18km cycle and 2.2km run. From the very beginning it looked like it was going to be a three horse race between cur- rent triathlon champion and Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club athlete Keith Galea and Shaun Galea and David Agius Lia. Entering together in the first transition to bike in a time of 15 minutes 9 seconds, it was Galea's attack from the very beginning that gave him the lead but Galea and Agius Lia were hot on his heels. In a tactic to pace himself for the 2.2km run that followed, the BSJ athlete slowed down on the final part of the bike. A similar repeat of the first transition took pace with the trio head- ing out to the final part of the race. Agius Lia was first out on the run, opening a gap between him and Galea. A sprint finish ensued in the last 100m result- ing in Galea overtaking Agius Lia by a mere 5 seconds. Shaun Galea entered in third place in 56 minutes and three seconds. "I was expecting a hard race – Shaun has shown great prom- ise and has been a force to contend with, same could be said for Agius Lia who hadn't raced in a while but showed great strength and determina- tion. I was particularly pleased with the great sportsmanship shown through – a great exam- ple for all athletes, especially the young ones present" com- mented Galea after the race. "I am currently building my form, haing changed my approach to training to hopefully reach my peak at the forthcoming Euro- pean Triathlon Championships in June." Keith Galea is currently short- listed as one of the finalists for the People's Choice Award Cat- egory in the or the final of the SportMalta Awards- Għażliet Sportivi Nazzjonali. Voting for this award can eb done via the link below - www.sport- ma lt a.org.mt/peoples-choice- awards-2017 Keith Galea Horner: RBR has most exciting line-up RED Bull Team Principal Christian Horner reckons Daniel Ricciardo and Max Ver- stappen represent the most exciting driver line-up on the 2017 Formula 1 grid. Ricciardo and Verstappen have both accumulated a le- gion of fans with their respec- tive personalities and typically aggressive racecraft, while competing against the domi- nant Mercedes squad. Horner reckons the continu- ing partnership of Ricciardo and Verstappen will ensure Red Bull extracts the maxi- mum possible from its poten- tial. "We've probably got abso- lutely the most exciting driver pairing on the grid," Horner said. "It's so exciting to see the de- velopment and the evolution of Max as he's gaining in experi- ence confidence and age, at the heady age of 19! "Daniel for me was the driv- er of the year last year, he put in some phenomenal perfor- mances, he's right at the top of his game, his confidence is high. "I think the dynamic between the drivers is great, they're go- ing to push each other incred- ibly hard, which is great from a team perspective. "I couldn't wish for two bet- ter more motivated drivers in our cars." Horner also likened Ricciardo and Verstappen's relationship as to that between siblings. "They're both ferocious rac- ers," Horner commented. "The race craft on a Sunday afternoon: I don't think there are any drivers out there who are better overtakers than our two guys. "They're tremendously dedi- cated, enjoying what they do, they revel in being Grand Prix drivers, having fun along the way. "There's sort of a big brother, little brother mentality going on, they live in the same apart- ment block. "It's a great pairing for us to have." Federer signs to Basel until 2019 ROGER Federer has agreed a three-year contract with the Swiss Indoors tournament - one which puts the prospect of retirement on the back-burner. The 35-year-old Australian Open champion is now con- tracted to appear at the ATP World Tour event, held every October, until 2019. He will be 38 by the time the deal con- cludes. Federer, who has won his home tournament seven times, said on the official Swiss Ten- nis website: "I cannot wait to return to my home country in the autumn. Playing in Basel is always a highlight of the year." This year's tournament will take place from October 23-29. Federer was the surprise win- ner of last month 's Australian Open in Melbourne and during his acceptance speech said: "I hope to see you next year, but if not, then it was a wonderful year here." Some took that as a retire- ment hint. The 18-time Grand Slam win- ner is due to play for the first time since his Melbourne tri- umph in Dubai next week. Roger Federer