The time trial national championship started last Sunday with the first race at Mriehel bypass.

This is a very fast course which saw riders reaching speeds up to 65km/h. Time trials are interesting to watch with riders starting at one minute intervals and trying to cover the 26km distance in the least possible time. Special bikes and equipment are used to provide the best aerodynamic position to slice through the air with as little drag as possible.

The elite race was battled between current time trial champion Etienne Bonello of Team Greens, David Galea of Qormi KIA, Maurice Formosa of Melita Pedal Power and Fabio Spiteri of Team Greens.

The race was very close in the initial laps however Bonello kept his winning momentum to clock the fastest time of the day of 36:54, Galea was second in 37:44 while Formosa was third in 38.01 just one second ahead of Spiteri.

The ladies category was very well contested with Danica Spiteri (Team Greens) riding at full throttle all along the race to win in 42:55, Marie Claire Aquilina (Mosta AF Sign Studio) rode to a second place in 46:20, while Donatelle Callus (Melita Pedal Power) finished third in 48:44 despite erroneously riding a longer route.

Andre Abela (Mosta AF Sign Studio) uncovered his time trialling potential to ride 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) was the undisputed winner of the masters race clocking 39:34, Chris Iwanic (Mosta) had a tight battle with Team Greens rider Mark Bugeja to finish second in 41:08 with Bugeja just 19seconds behind.

Englishman Brent Skinner (Melita Pedal Power) was the man to beat in the over 50 category, riding a terrific 39:20. Emanuel Bezzina (Mosta AF Sign Studio) was very close to finish second in 40:00, while Anthony Borg of Qormi KIA clocked 47:23 to gain the third spot.

Mosta AF Sign Studio’s upcoming Under 15 rider James Dimech put on an impressive ride to register a very encouraging time of 41:10. Daniel Borg (Mosta) clocked 44.47 while Max Micallef (Qormi KIA) was third in 55:54

The event was made possible with the help of the police force 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.