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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 JUNE 2014 46 Sport TRIATHLON FORMULA 1 Record participation in the Garmin Malta Long Distance Triathlon Championships THIS Year's Garmin Malta Long Distance Triathlon Championships saw the largest pool of athletes being fielded in Malta's only long distance triathlon. The triathlon which con- sisted of a 1.9km swim, a 90km cycle and a 21k m run took place in Birze- bbugia in what have been the worst conditions for a long time, especially for this time of year. Nevertheless the race proved to be a hard fought battle from start to finish with a good show from some veteran athletes and deter- mined racing from the newer breed of triathletes. The race also saw a strong international participation with four- teen triathletes hailing from Brighton, United Kingdom. With previous year's male title holder, Rudolph Agius and potential contender Fabio Spiteri out of the fray, the hopes for the winning spot was an open challenge. First out of the very rough sea was veteran Joseph Cremo- na (Birkirkara St. Joseph), who after a long break from the sport returned to endurance racing this year, covering the 1.9k swim in just 31 minuntes 27 sec, second out of the water was vet- eran endurance athlete Nicky Farru- gia followed by the experienced David Galea (Agones SFC), who has been in a fine form throughout. Although similar to previous years, this year's bike route saw some changes, which were designed to give athletes a safe yet more technical route. The previ- ous night's rain caused some havoc on the route with quite a few bike crashes being experienced by several athletes. David Galea showed fine form in the cycle segment, clocking in a time of 2 hours 40 minutes beating Joe Cre- mona by less than one minute to head towards the 21km run. Jude Zammit (Agones SFC) clocked in to transition in third place having completed the bike segment in just less than 3 hours. These placings were mirrored in the final run segment where David Galea crossed the finish line in 4 hours 33 minutes, 51 seconds, Joseph Cremona in 4 hours 51 minutes, 33 seconds and Jude Zammit in 4 hours 59 minutes and 45 seconds. In the female category, title hold- er and current National Triathlon Champion Birkirkara St. Joseph tria- thlete Michelle Vella Wood had little competition in the field yet she still had a very strong showing completing the race in 5 hours, 18 minutes and 35 seconds. Second and third female to cross the finish line were international athletes Elle Breeds and Amy Jordan both fin- ishing in a time of 6 hours 10 minutes 20 seconds and 6 hours 27 minutes and 7 seconds respectively. In the Master Category, trophies were awarded to Gaetano Catania (Agones SFC), Nicky Farrugia and Peter Zammit in first, second and third place respectively. The female trophy went to Issi Doyle. The Relay Category saw a fine show- ing of a mix of top, upcoming and new athletes hailing from Swimming, Running and Cycling disciplines teaming up to give some exciting per- formances. A total of seventeen teams were fielded. Coming in first place was Team G made up of Triathlete Graham Borg, upcoming Cyclist Wayne Spiteri and veteran marathon runner Jonathan Balzan. Second in were U23 Triathlon Champion Hannah Pace, seasoned cyclist Jeffrey Borg and runner Clift- on Caruana who clinched his first podium. Third in were Zach Cutajar, Mark Bonnici and Hadrian Bonello, all of which are successful athletes in their own right. "With each year that passes we learn and gain experience, which is then translated into a better racing experience the following year. This year's race saw a number of changes and milestones – we worked even more closely with the Malta Triath- lon Federation, to design a route that was more spectator friendly as well as to upgrade the race to championship status. We also received increased support from the Authorities which enabled us to offer a safer racing en- vironment, increased sponsorship gave us the opportunity to offer more attractive prizes to the winners and a varied goody bag to all David Galea & Michelle Vella Wood - Long Distance Triathlon Champions Nico Rosberg snatches pole position from Lewis Hamilton The on-going battle between Mercedes drivers took another twist on Saturday as Nico Rosberg grabbed the pole position in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton. MARTIN MORAVEC, DPA THE on-going battle between Mercedes drivers took another twist on Saturday as Nico Ros- berg grabbed the pole position in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix ahead of his team- mate Lewis Hamilton. Despite Hamilton having much more success on the track in the past, it was the world champion- ship leader Rosberg who clocked the quickest time of 1 minute 14.874 seconds around the 4.361- kilometre Circuit Gilles Ville- neuve track. "It's a fantastic day. I know that it's a track that Lewis is very strong at. But I feel great taking the pole. It's really cool and the best position for the start tomor- row," said Rosberg, who grabbed the third pole of the season and seventh of his career. Hamilton, who has three pole positions and three victories in Canada, had been quicker than Rosberg all weekend but finished 0.079 seconds behind Rosberg. "Nico did a fantastic job today. Congratulations to him. It's great for the team that we have one- two on Sunday," said Hamilton, who has won four races this sea- son to two for Rosberg but trails the German 122 to 118 in the driver's standings. Taking third in the heat in Canada was the world champion Vettel, who has just one podium finish this season but found the right set-up and pace to start third on Sunday. "I tried to take more risks and it worked. All in all it's a very good result. It's the best we could do - just behind the two Mercedes and ahead of the others," said Vettel, who won last season in Montreal. The Williams duo of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa finished fourth and fifth respectively, followed by Daniel Ricciardo in Red Bull and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. The race on Sunday starts at 1800 GMT. German Formula One driver Nico Rosberg of Mercedes AMG GP (L) and his teammate British Lewis Hamilton (R) chat after qualifying session at the Gille Villeneuve circuit in Montreal, Canada.Nico Rosberg took pole position while Lewis Hamilton second. Photo by: EPA/VALDRIN XHEMAJ