The 2005 National Cycling Championships continued yesterday with an Individual Time Trial held on eight laps measuring around thirty kilometres on the Mriehel Circuit.
The hero of this specialty was again Jack Shiavone (Pamsons) who covered the whole distance in 42minutes44 seconds. He will, be the lead cyclist in this discipline at the Andorra Games for the Small States of Europe and is expected to continue to sharpen his art by further training in UK in the coming weeks.
The event was somewhat marred when some cyclists mistakenly did not finish in a proper manner. One of them rode for an extra lap and another one did not pass through the finishing lane. This underlines the need for shaper attention at the briefing session held before each race by the commissaires. It is the custom of riders to count laps by discarding a set of plastic markers each time they pass the lap line- but one rider forgot to discard his marker at the start of the first lap. Several riders, intent on their work, aimed erroneously at the lane which led to further laps and. at the very last moment veered into the correct position where the timekeepers table clearly indicated the finishing line.
The event started earlier than usual thanks to the co-operation of the club delegates who marshaled their members at the start. The delegates checked each cyclist for back and frame numbers and other regulatory. Formalities so that at the start, the commissaires’ work was much eased. E Federation is grateful to Centrepoint Cycling, the leaders of the sponsors of this event and to the Police Force and the volunteer marshals from several clubs who provided essential assistance in closing this busy thoroughfare. Because of this co-operative work force, the event was organized efficiently in the shortest possible time so that the roads were returned to traffic in less than an hour and a half from the start.
The full final results were:
Under 15: 1. Formosa Christian ? 26:59 Pamsons (P), 2.Galea Sheldon ? 29:23 Pamsons(P), 3.Galea Luke ? 29:52 Mosta AF Sign Studio(M).
Ladies: 1. Magri Stephania ? 58:11 (P), 2. Wood Michelle ? 58:11, 3. Aquilina M C ? 60:04 (M).
Masters: 1. Bezzina Emanuel ? 52:39, 2. Iwanik Chris ? 52:40 (M), 3. Micallef Cliff ? 54:11(P).
Juniors: 1. Galea Keith ? 48:14,2. Pullicino Shawn ? 48:49 (P), 3. Sciberras Adrian ? 49:45 (M).
Elite: 1. Schiavone Jack ? 42:44, 2. Muscat Roderick ? 45:06Mm, 3. Bonello Etienne ? 45:36 (P).