Tight race at San Martin

The second event from this season's Road Race Champion-ship was held a few days ago at San Martin.

It was a very nervous race, right from the first pedal strokes with Qormi Kia riders in attack mode as David Galea and Ramon Grech pushed the pace from the first metres.

With the San Martin hill featuring seven times and the strong winds prevailing during the day, the uphills turned out to be a real big challenge.

The top championship contenders were allowing no extra space to manouvre but the decisive move came when Maurice Formosa, of Melita Pedal Power, surged ahead.

Etienne Bonello, of Team Greens, gave chase and the duo opened a considerable lead. Qormi and Mosta AF Sign Studio failed to put a rider in the breakaway pack as they tried to reel down the leaders.

Up front the Bonello-Formosa tandem was going at full throttle as they increased their lead by over two-and-a-half minutes.

Into the final lap Formosa tried to avoid a sprint finish with Bonello and launched a series of attacks. But the tactic did not work out as the in-form Bonello did not show any signs of weakness.

The two rode to the finish line at the top of the San Martin hill with Bonello outsprinting his championship rival to win the race.

It was another hard fought battle for the third spot. Mosta's Adrian Sciberras found a strong leg to outsmart the likes of Pierre Borg (Melita Pedal Power), Grech and Galea.

Stephania Magri was the clear winner in the women's race followed by Marie Claire Aquilina (Mosta) and Danica Spiteri (Team Greens).

Team Greens had a clean sweep in the Masters category with Brian Magri, Mark Bugeja and Daniel Callus making the podium.

Emanuel Bezzina, of Mosta, was the first in the Over 50 category followed by Charles Sammut, of Team Greens, and Anthony Borg, of Qormi.

Christian Formosa (Melita) enjoyed his first win in the junior category followed by Andre Abela. James Dimech (Mosta) prevailed yet again in the U-15 ranks. He was followed by team-mate Daniel Borg and Qormi's Max Micallef.

The race organisers were assisted by the traffic police, club officials, volunteers and the sponsorship of Centrepoint Cycles.