Luca Caruso and Henrietta Colbourne retained the leaders’ red jersey at the end of yesterday’s Tour ta’ Malta second stage, held at the demanding San Martin circuit.

In the elite division, a four-way tussle for the stage victory developed with Caruso, of Pad Zeccihino, moving ahead of the group along with team-mate Michele Genovese, Giuseppe Di Salvo (Team Cicli Maggi) and Elmar Hantzsch (Agones).

In a tight sprint Di Salvo took victory in 2:35.05 ahead of Genovese with Caruso settling for third place after 100kms of racing in a mostly uphill stage.

William Hili (The Cyclist) was the first Maltese rider home in fifth place (2:35.28).

Caruso tops the leaderboard in a combined 3:01.51. He holds a 32-second lead over Di Salvo with Genovese third on 3:02.29.

The women’s and Masters’ legs at San Martin were over 60kms.

Colbourne made it two wins in a row after crossing the finish line first in 1:44.40, a mere second ahead of Michelle Vella Wood. Lou Collins, of Carnac Planet X, was third in 1:44.44.

In the overall standings, Colbourne leads with a combined time of 2:16.00. Collins is 23 seconds behind and third-placed Vella Wood three seconds further back (1:16.26).

Fabio Scalora (Pad Zeccihino) was the clear winner in the Masters race to claim the overall leadership when pedalling home in 1:32.46. Martin Hopkinson (Fietsen Team, 1:33.48)) was second and Mosta CC’s Patrick Scicluna third in 1:33.49.

Scalora has an accumulated time of 2:02.08 after two stages to open a 34-second lead over Scicluna. Fabio Spiteri (Agones) is third overall in 2:03.24.

Today, the Tour moves to Gozo for the third stage – a 60km mass start race in Nadur. The remaining stage will be held tomorrow, a 40km road race at Ta’ Penellu.