Magri Cycles National Points Series – Formosa and Bonello win XC season opener

The first round of the Magri Cycles Cross Country National Points Series took place this morning at Mizieb. The race was organised by the Malta Mountain Bike Association and sponsored by Magri Cycles of Mosta. The 4.6km course is characterised by rocky terrain, technical single tracks and a challenging descent at the end of the lap. The course was covered six times by the Elite category, five times by the Ladies and four times by the Sport Category.

The highly anticipated race did not fail to excite the many mountain bike enthusiasts who witnessed the race with Malta’s topmost mountain bike athletes on the start line.

In the male event, it was full throttle from the first few hundred metres as riders dashed from the line right into the first uphill with Mark Bonnici (Agones) and Maurice Formosa (The Cyclist) creating a sizeable gap on the entire field. The duo kept a solid pace to increase their lead; however, it was Formosa who showed to have the winning form to win the race in 01:20:35. Bonnici finished second in 01:23:32 while Etienne Bonello (Team Greens) settled for third place in 01:28:50.

In the Ladies Category, triathlete Danica Bonello Spiteri finished first in 01:21:36 followed by Marie Claire Aquilina in 01:24:01 who unfortunately had a puncture in the fourth lap and lost the lead. Lara Buttigieg settled for third place.

In the Sport category, newcomer Alex Gatt won the race in 01:02:50, followed by Eyal Steinitz in 01:04:10 and Francesco Sultana in 01:04:15.