Newly-crowned national dua-thlon champion Keith Galea maintained his positive form this year as he produced another solid display to finish second in the Sicily Championship, held in Buseto Palizzolo.

The inclement weather on the day presented an added challenge for the 60 participants as the race took off with a fast 5km run. Galea entered the transition area in first place, closely followed by two runners from the Sicilian national team.

On the 20km technical bike course, Galea met some difficulties due to his lack of knowledge of the route and the weather.

This gave a big advantage to the home duathletes who snatched the lead from the Malta champion halfway through the bike segment.

A determined Galea entered the second transition zone determined to make up lost ground in the last 2.5km run.

Truly in his best running form ever, Galea moved up to second after the first kilometre and powered ahead to close the gap on Sebastiano Foti, the 2011 Sicilian duathlon champion. However, Foti had built a significant lead which he held on to as Galea had to settle for second place and first in his age-group.

Galea is another elite athlete benefiting from the KMS 20/20 scheme and this is helping him to raise his standards.

His next race will be the European Championships in Israel.