The expansion of triathlon in Malta continues unabated and this is also partly thanks to the attraction middle and long-distance races hold for the local triathletes.

Last Sunday nine members of the Malta Triathlon Federation, namely Kevin Zammit, Jean-Marc Camilleri, Niki Bilocca, Daniel Agius, Matthew Mirabelli, Stefan Borg, Josef Zarb, Donald Vella and Stephen Banavage, took part in the Aix-de-Provence Ironman 70.3 race.

An Ironman 70.3 triathlon consists of a 1.9km swim, a cycling segment of 90km and a half-marathon run of 21km.

“Such a demanding race requires intense physical and mental preparations as well as many hours of training in the three disciplines,” the MTF said.

The race for the Maltese triathletes proved more demanding than anticipated as a cold spell across the Provence region resulted in water temperatures in the Lac Peyrolles dropping to 15 degrees.

For this reason, the race organisers decided to cancel the swimming leg for safety precautions. Notwithstanding, the race was still very challenging since the athletes had to face strong winds and gusts reaching 52km/hr in exposed areas.

Once the cycling segment was completed, the final part of the race consisted of three laps around a 7km circuit through the city of Aix. It proved very exciting for all participants as spectators gathered along the route to encourage the athletes in their last push towards the finish line.

All nine Maltese triathletes completed the course and received a memento for their efforts. Mirabelli, a Times of Malta photographer, led the MTF group after crossing the line in a time of four hours and 27 minutes.

Mirabelli posted the best bike split among the Maltese triathletes, covering the 90km distance in two hours 50 minutes.

Zammit put his running background to good use as he topped the run split from among the MTF representatives, covering the half-marathon distance in just under an hour-and-a-half.

Meanwhile, local triathletes are looking forward to a long-distance triathlon on home soil later this month.

The Garmin Ocean Lava Malta 113K Triathlon, to be held in Baħar ic-Cagħaq, is sanctioned by the MTF as the 2016 National Long-Distance Championship.

More information may be obtained from www.triathlonmalta.org or from the MTF’s Facebook page.

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