Click The Malta Triathlon Federation held the 31st Edition of the Malta National Triathlon Championship on Sunday at the Salini Beach and along the Coast Road. Hannah Pace was confirmed National Champion from last year while it as Graham’s Borg first National Title in his career.

In total, just over 100 athletes participated in all the races which were held on the day.

The National Championship was raced on the Standard (Olympic) distance which saw the athletes swim 1.5KM, cycle 40KM and run 10KM.

In the female race, Hannah Pace was unrivalled as she led from start to finish. Pace, who was defending her 2016 title, clocked the best splits in all three segments and in both transitions. Pace went in front in the swim where she opened a 90 second gap which left little hope for her rivals so early in the race. Pace went on to wrap the championship in a total time of 2 hours, 18 minutes and 58 seconds. Margaret Seguna, current National Duathlon and Long Distance Triathlon Champion was second at more that 4 minutes behind the winner, while the third place went to Danica Bonello Spiteri, the nine-time National Title holder secured a spot on the lowest place on the podium.

In the male event, the race was uncertain segment. After the swim, it was Latvian Stanislavs Vaipans that exited the water, followed by Shaun Galea, Bernard Sant and Graham Borg. On the cycling segment, Shaun Galea lost a huge amount of time due to bike mechanical problem while it was Veteran David Galea who clocked the best cycling segment of the day, followed by Wayne Spiteri and German Holger Mitterer. However, Borg opened a huge gap on the run with Shaun Galea bouncing off the mishap and recording the best run of the event as he covered the 10KM course in under 38 minutes. Finally, Borg grabbed his first National title in a total time of 2 hours 7 minutes and 42 seconds, with Shaun Galea grabbing second place with just 9 seconds over team-mate Steve Chetcuti in third place.

The Sprint Distance race proved to be an opportunity for the younger generation of triathletes to shine. The race was won by Malta Youth Triathlon Academy’s Shaun Demicoli in a time of 1 hour, 11 minutes and 23 seconds. 15 year old Malcolm James Vassallo was second while Kersten Theuma was third. In the female race, German Eva Reinisch took top spot while Charmaine Sciberras in second and Elaine Fenech in third completed the podium. The Sprint Relay race was won by the team made up of Ruben Marin in the swim, Enrico Bradamante in the cycle and Rudy Muscolino in the run segment.

Mr David Fleri Soler, director at Express Trailers who supported and sponsored the race, presented the trophies to all the podium finishers and the Age-Group winners immediately after the race.

Mr Mark Gaglione from Medcomms & Garmin Malta presented a Garmin Fenix 3 sports watch which was raffled among the athletes at the presentation.

The Malta Triathlon Federation, in a statement, thanked the numerous volunteers who made this race possible, the local authorities, the traffic section of the Malta Police Force, the various sponsors and supporting companies and in particular, Express Trailers for offering the title sponsorship for the event.
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The Malta Triathlon Federation will be staging the 31st edition of the Malta National Triathlon Championship this Sunday at Salini Beach and along the Coast Road. This is, as per tradition, the grand final of the local triathlon and multisport season which has seen athletes racing in different formats of racing combining the three sports of swimming, cycling and running.
 
The Championship will be raced on a single triathlon on the Standard, or Olympic Distance. The race will start with a 1.5KM swim, followed by a 40KM cycling segment and concluded with a 10KM run. Around 70 athletes are expected to take part in the Championship, which include some of the big names in the local triathlon community who will be vying to become National Champion. A good number of international participation from Great Britain, Italy, Latvia, and other countries will be adding an extra dose of excitement to the race.
 
For the first time, the Malta Triathlon Federation changed the format of the races from a non-drafting to a draft-legal race and this will make the outcome of the race even more exciting and uncertain.
 
“We have moved towards a draft-legal races for two reasons” explains Cyprian Dalli, President of the Malta Triathlon Federation and Race Director. “The most important one was that our athletes are finding more opportunities for draft-legal triathlons on the international sphere and they will be required to race in this format if they aspire to compete at Elite Level. Secondly, it was felt that locally we were lacking draft-legal triathlons and so we started with this small but very important revolution. We are sure that all athletes will enjoy this race and will ask for more.”
 
The Championships are being supported by Express Trailers through the involvement of Mosta Cycling Club, one of three clubs that have secured a three-year sponsorship from Express Trailers.
 
“Throughout these past years, Express Trailers has started building a close rapport with road running sports. Our company’s operations are mainly based on road transport and although we are doing a necessary job of transporting goods for the local market, we also acknowledge that our fleet of trucks and trailers put a burden on all the other road users, especially the more vulnerable ones such as runners and cyclists. Our support to these events on our roads, seeks to redress the balance,” said Franco Azzopardi, Chairman and CEO of Express Trailers.
 
Simultaneous with the Standard Championship race, the Federation will hold an ancillary Sprint Triathlon on the half distances. For this race, there will be around 30 athletes competing as well as 4 relay teams.
 
The races will start at 7:30am this Sunday from the Salini Beach while the cycling and running will be held on the Coast Road. Attendance is free of charge and the general public is encouraged to attend and support the athletes.