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| SUNDAY • 27 MAY 2018 maltatoday 30 SPORTS Malta to host Games of the Small States of Europe in 2023 THE Maltese Olympic Commit- tee has announced that the 20th edition of the Games of the Small States of Europe will be hosted in Malta. The Maltese Olympic Committee officially won the bid to host these games during the GSSE General Assembly which is currently taking place in Mon- tenegro. This will be the third time that Malta would be hosting these Games having hosted them in 1993 and 2003. "It is of great satisfaction for the Maltese Olympic Committee to make such an announcement – we have the full backing of the Maltese Government as well as the other nations that compete in these Games" explained Julian Pace Bonello, President, Maltese Olympic Committee. "We have now five years of solid hard work to produce a memorable Games. We have already started working on a Business Plan, which will include the potential sports that could be chosen for competition in 2023". The Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) are a biennial, multi-sport event, launched in the Republic of San Marino, or- ganised by and featuring the Na- tional Olympic Committees of eight European small states since 1985. These were later joined by Montenegro in 2009. The Games are typically held at the end of May or beginning of June, and feature competitions in nine or ten Summer Olympic sports and one other sport, which may be a non-Olympic sport. CYCLING CHRIS Froome is set to be- come the first Briton to win the Giro d'Italia after seeing off a late surge by defending cham- pion Tom Dumoulin in yes- terday's 20th stage to increase his lead to 46 seconds ahead of today's finale. Barring a late calamity on the final stage in Rome, which is traditionally a procession, the Team Sky rider will celebrate victory and add the one Grand Tour missing from his collec- tion. Froome, who is still under investigation over an adverse doping test result, became the first British winner of the Vuelta a Espana last year and the third man to complete the Tour de France-Vuelta double in the same year. "Just incredible feelings, quite emotional," Froome, who was barely in contention before a remarkable turnaround on Fri- day's 19th stage, said. "It has been such a brutal race but I have to say, it has been a beau- tiful, beautiful event. "There were attacks I had to follow in the final, but I felt in control and capable of follow- ing today... everyone had such a hard day yesterday no one really had the legs to go any- where." Victory on the Giro will see the 33-year-old emulate Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault, the only riders to have won three Grand Tours in succes- sion. Despite his feats, Froome is under investigation by world cycling's governing body UCI over an adverse doping test result after a urine sample showed excessive levels of an asthma medication at last year's Vuelta. He has denied any wrongdoing. Mikel Nieve celebrated his 34th birthday in style by win- ning Saturday's stage — a 214km ride from Susa to Cer- vinia. The Spaniard attacked with just over 30km to go and finished two minutes and 17 seconds ahead of Dutchman Robert Gesink. Froome began the day 40 sec- onds ahead of Dumoulin after Friday's heroics and main- tained a healthy pace through- out before switching gears towards the end as the Dutch- man mounted a late charge. He finished the stage seventh. Froome's closest competitor and last year's winner Dumou- lin reflected on the difficulty of the stage. "This has been the toughest stage so far, I'm hap- py with my second place. I did everything right... I'm not the best climber." Frenchman Thibaut Pi- not, who was third overall at the start of the stage, saw his chances of a podium finish end at the second climb up Col de St-Pantaleon where he strug- gled. Britain's Froome set for historic Giro victory Chris Froome of Britain