The Time Trial National Championship started last Sunday with the first race along the Mriehel bypass. This is a very fast course which saw riders raking up speeds of up to 65km/h.
Time trials are interesting to watch with riders starting at one-minute intervals from each other and trying to cover the 26km distance in the least possible time.
In the elite category, the main challengers were current time trial champion Etienne Bonello, of Team Greens, David Galea, of Qormi KIA, Maurice Formosa, of Melita Pedal Power, and Fabio Spiteri, also of Team Greens.
The race was very close in the initial laps but Bonello kept his winning momentum to clock the fastest time of the day - 36:54. Galea was second in 37:44 while Formosa came in third in 38.01, just one second ahead of Spiteri.
The women's race was another keenly-contested affair with Danica Spiteri (Team Greens) riding at a fast pace throughout the distance to win in 42:05.
Marie Claire Aquilina (Mosta AF Sign Studio) claimed second place in 46:20 and Donatelle Callus (Melita) finished third in 48:44 despite erroneously taking a longer route.
Junior rider Andrè Abela (Mosta AF Sign Studio) showed his time-trialling potential to complete the course in an encouraging time of 38:24. Christian Formosa and Karl Farrugia, both of Melita Pedal Power, finished second and third in 42:33 and 52:45 respectively.
Nicky Farrugia (Mosta AF Sign Studio) emerged as the undisputed winner of the Masters race, clocking 39:34. Chris Iwanic (Mosta) was involved in a tight battle with Team Greens' rider Mark Bugeja for second place. Iwanic clinched the runner-up spot in 41:08 with Bugeja just 19 seconds behind.
Englishman Brent Skinner (Melita Pedal Power) was the man to beat in the over-50 category, recording a commendable time of 39:20. Emanuel Bezzina (Mosta AF Sign Studio) was very close to finish second in 40:00, while Anthony Borg, of Qormi Kia, covered the distance in 47:23 to place third.
Mosta AF Sign Studio's up-coming Under-15 rider James Dimech put on an impressive ride to register a very encouraging time of 41:10. Daniel Borg (Mosta) was second in 44.47 and Max Micallef (Qormi KIA) third in 55:54.
Sunday's event was made possible thanks to the contribution of the Police who controlled the traffic perfectly as well as the St James Ambulance, volunteers and other club officials.
Centre Point cycles were the sponsors of the race.