More than 60 riders braved the rainy weather last Sunday for the gruelling road race at St Paul's Bay, organised by Melita CC.

Maurice Formosa, of Melita CC, took the honours in this race, the last tune-up for local cyclists ahead of next week's Tour ta' Malta (March 18-21).

Interesting to note was the encouraging number of participants in the U-15 category with 12 riders on the start line.

The most contested class, as always, was the Elite with more than 30 starters. Here, cyclists had to lap the bypass 15 times for a total distance of 87kms.

Christian Formosa (Melita Pedal Power) broke free from the peloton in the opening stages. He was joined by Adrian Sciberras (Mosta AF Sign Studio) but both riders were soon reeled in.

Then, it was the turn of Mark Bonnici (Melita Pedal Power) to pull clear of the peloton, again followed by Sciberras. This duo established a lead of around 60 seconds and managed to stay in front for more than five laps. However, the gusty winds made it impossible for the two to maintain their pace.

On lap nine, Etienne Bonello (Greens) broke away from the main group together with Maurice Formosa, Steve Sciberras (Mosta AF Sign Studio) and David Galea (Qormi Scotts). Several riders lost ground at this stage and a chasing group of nine cyclists were left trying to bridge the gap.

The breakaway quartet opened a gap of more than a minute before Maurice Formosa surprised the other three in the last uphill to win the race in 2 hours 31 minutes and 29 seconds. He was followed by Sciberras and Bonello in that order as Galea had to settle for fourth place.

Bonnici was fifth in a sprint finish by the group of chasers after a perfect lead-out by Melita team-mate Christian Formosa.