Nail-biting finish for Cyclist Tour of Malta

It was a nail-biting day of racing for the cyclists taking part in the last stage of The Cyclist Tour of Malta. With the gruelling San Martin Circuit being saved for last, cyclists had one of the toughest courses on the island to contend with.

Cyclists taking part in the Juniors, Ladies and Masters Categories had to undertake six laps of the course, whilst the Elite Categories had ten laps.

The Juniors’ Category which was dominated by Luke Borg (The Cyclist). Borg sealed another victory to complete the tour undeafeated. Behind him was Mosta’s Sean Enriquez who, similarly, gave a very consistent performance throughout. Gianluca Camilleri (Birkirkara St.Joseph) came in third place.

The Ladies Category saw Malta’s Marie Claire Aquilina (Team Greens) on the forefront throughout enabling her to make up for the time lost yesterday. Her efforts saw her win second place on Sunday’s podium and the overall Tour after being pipped for first place by Madeline Scott by just a few seconds. Gabriella Nordin (TW1 Racing Team) settled for third place.

Not short of action was the Masters Category, which so far has been dominated by foreign cyclists. It was Malta’s Etienne Bonello (Team Greens) who pushed to his limits to take his place on the podium in the final day of racing after setting the pace for the final sprint.

First placed was previous Individual Pursuit world champion Colin Sturgess (Kuota GSG). Bonello followed him milliseconds after whilst Daryl Maffey (CC London) finished third.

It was a race of changing places and heart stopping action for the Elite cyclists. The Formosa siblings, Christian and Maurice, both racing under The Cyclist’s colours, worked the group to try and bring glory for Malta in this group.

Christian could be seen leading the way in a number of laps but despite all attempts for a podium place, Formosa’s commendable performance was not enough as a third place on the podium was missed out by milliseconds.

The Elite podium was made up Stuart Hall Cycling Gett Taxi Bottechia team cyclists Matthew Dobbing, David Reece and Harry Horsman.

The Cyclist Tour of Malta organisers thanked main sponsor The Cyclist as well as the Malta Police Force, local councils and authorities who supported this initiative all the way.