Fast pace, interesting tactics reign at the Mosta AF Sign Studio Cycling Club road race

Mosta AF Sign Studio Cycling Club welcomed nearly 100 competitors at their annual Żebbuġ Road Race on Sunday.

The competitive element was very clear with many cyclists vying for placings on their respective category podiums. All in all, it was a fast race laced with some very interesting tactics.

Race proceedings kicked off with the Under 12 category, mostly represented by members of the Mosta Cycling Club Academy.

Cyclists had one lap of 4.5kms, with the boys’ podium made up of Miguel Galea (Team Greens), Isaac Bonnici (Agones SFC) and Adam Camilleri (Mosta CC). The Girls’ podium was an all Mosta CC team composed of Loralie Zammit, Martina Darmanin Tedesco and Anna Panzariu.

Some good performances were registered in the Juniors, Under 14, and Under 16 Categories.

Under 16 –(45km)– All Mosta Cycling Club podium, with Nikol Micallef registering a solo victory followed by Sean Enriquez and Sean Michael Darmanin.

Under 14 boys- (18km) - Matthew Galea Pirotta (Mosta CC) broke off the group on the second lap winning solo over Gabriel Bonnici (Agones SFC ) and Tristan Aquilina (Mosta CC)

Under 14 Girls –(18km) - Kristina Spiteri (The Cyclist) solo victory over Mosta CC cyclists Justine Degiorgio and Bettina Falzon.

Juniors – (72km) : Isaac Spiteri (The Cyclist) uncontested winner in category when B’Kara St. Joseph’s Gianluca Camilleri had to stop half way in the race:

Elite

The Elite Category saw all local cycling clubs being represented. The 22 lap circuit of approxi-

mately 99km, saw a breakaway attempt by Serbian Nebojsa Srcmac (The Cyclist) being closed down by Mosta’s Gerard Said, however Srcmac’s second attempt, this time with team mate Graham Borg, was successful enabling him to keep the lead until the very end.

On the 50km mark, cyclists from the Mosta Club gave a shot at trying to close the 1 minute 30 second gap but an unfortunate crash suffered by Nicholas Micallef put paid to their valiant attempts.

With Srcmac and Borg finishing the race in first and second place respectively, it all boiled down to a sprint finish for third place, when Maurice Formosa (The Cyclist) outsprinted Etienne Bonello (Team Greens) to the podium.

Masters 40+(54Km) - The top athletes in this Category consisted of a smaller troop from the Elite group, who remained compact and ended in a sprint finish by a margin of .07 of a second won by Patrick Scicluna (Mosta CC) over Ivan Zammit (B’Kara St. Joseph) and Antoine Sultana (The Cyclist) in 3rd.

Masters 50+(45km) - Similarly, this category remained compact throughout the race - with all Mosta CC cyclists taking podium places. The category was marked by Mark Schembri’s comeback after an absence of 2 years in competitive cycling. Schembri’s fine form saw him outsprint team mates Michael Lia and Steve Mifsud.

Ladies (67Km) – This category saw good participation and new faces on the route. Marie Claire Aquilina (Team Greens) continued to show her prowess and rode solo to victory over teammates Michelle Vella Wood and Danica Bonello Spiteri.

“The success of today’s race was not just marked by the large amount of competitors, but also from the levels of particiatpion and performances our Academy cyclists registered. This shows that the Club’s strategy to build the sport and develop tomorrow’s cyclists is bearing fruit,” enthused Edward Enriquez, Mosta AF Sign Studio Cycling Club.

“This race also marked a very emotional day for our Club as one of our members, Emmanuel Camilleri, took part in his last road race, having decided to retire after an illustrious 50-year career on the circuit and having ridden and raced both for our Club and at national team Level.”

Mosta AF Sign Studio Cycling Club thanked all participating clubs, club sponsors, marshals, the Malta Police – Traffic Section, Qormi Police, Medical Staff and Ambulance from Global Security, Transport Malta and the Zebbug Local Council.