The fourth and final round of races from the MTB XC National Points Series, sponsored by Magri Cycles, was held recently with top contender Maurice Formosa sealing the major title after winning the stage in Selmun.

With pre-race briefing and safety checks concluded, all 20 riders in the two categories – Elite (six laps) and Sports (three laps) – took off for a short warm-up loop prior to raising the tempo for the real action.

The highly technical three-kilometre track immediately indicated that riders were in for a tough day, demanding hard concentration as the variable rocky stages had a few of the competitors withdrawing with flat or ripped tyres.

The front-runners went about their business with little fuss, powering up the ‘mother of all climbs’ in the latter stages of each lap at Selmun. This climb ultimately proved the deciding factor in terms of placings in both divisions.

Formosa (The Cyclist) and Mark Bonnici (Agones SFC) set the pace in the Elite race with Patrick Scicluna (Mosta CC) hot on their heels.

Initially, Ramon Grech (Agones SFC) also put up a challenge but was forced to pull out due to damage to his front wheel.

Formosa kept up his impressive pace throughout each lap, opening a gap on the chasing duo which he maintained to finish the race in an impressive time of 1:06:31.

Victory meant Formosa had achieved a clean sweep of the series this season, winning all four races to top the standings in his category.

Scicluna did well to overtake Bonnici on lap five and finish runner-up on the day in 1:09:12.

Bonnici had to settle for third place in 1:12:52.

The Sports Category race was a tight affair as the first three rode home in less than one minute from each other.

Mark Micallef (The Cyclist) was outstanding on his return to the MTB circuit, finishing first in 37:07 and edging Dennis Dolci to the chequered flag.

Dolci had to carry his bike all the way through the uphill section on lap three after suffering a flat tyre. His time was 37:26.

Wayne Schembri (MTB Malta) was third in 38:04 but his effort was enough for him to land the overall title thanks to his better consistency over the entire series.

Series winners

Elite: 1. Maurice Formosa; 2. Mark Bonnici; 3. Ramon Grech.
Sport: 1. Wayne Schembri; 2. Alex Gatt; 3. Anton Muscat.
Women: 1. Danica Bonello Spiteri; 2. Marie Claire Aquilina; 3. Claudine Gatt.

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