Two fine showings by Galea

In mid-August, Birkirkara St Joseph triathlete Keith Galea tested his wits against some of the best Belgian professional triathletes in the Lommel Olympic Triathlon.

Lining-up for this race in Belgium were the likes of Gerrit Schellens, race winner for the past five years and 2009 Ironman South Africa holder. Galea was breaking grounds in such a high-profile race, rubbing shoulders with elite triathletes.

The race started with a 1,500m swim in a canal. Galea managed to stay with the main group, coming out of the water 17th in 19 minutes 30 seconds. Following a quick swim-to-bike transition, he was out on the 40 kilometre route around the town of Lommel.

The course was a very technical one with a number of sharp turns and a segment on cobblestones.

Galea lost ten places here, struggling hard to manoeuvre round the corners on his time-trial bike, providentially reaching transition area unscathed after 64 minutes of rigorous cycling.

Starting the final 10-kilometre run, Galea set himself a demanding pace to recover those precious minutes he had lost in the cycle. He ran the distance in 38:20, to finish 21st in an overall time of 2:05.32.

Returning back to England, Galea took part in another race - the Hardwick Sprint Triathlon.

The race in Belgium had taken its toll on Galea's bike and he had to compete with a different one in this final race.

In the 750-metre swim, Galea clocked a personal best of nine minutes, 19 seconds, coming out of the lake in ninth place.

Finding his new bike rather strange to handle, Galea threw caution to the wind and sped around the 21.5-kilometre course in the town of Redditch in 33:50, significantly closing the gap on the race leaders as he reached transition area in seventh place.

The final five-kilometre run was on a daunting three-lap gravel course with a steep hill at the end of each lap.

Galea finished the run in 17:55, climbing to fourth place overall and second in his age group, with an accumulated time of 1:03.25, missing third place overall by 25 seconds.

Galea is now back in Malta, concentrating on a full programme of local races and the forthcoming Friendship Games in Sicily.