The Cross Country National Points Series came to an end last month with the final round at Chadwick Lakes.

The riders had to tackle the 4km race course four times which included a one km uphill on steep, loose terrain followed by a fast winding double track downhill and a tricky single track section before the finish.

All the big names in local mountain biking took the start of the final round, despite the early morning start riders still had to combat the prevailing hot, humid, windless conditions especially in the uphill sections.

The riders rolled from the start from the heart of Chadwick Lakes and after a left turn, took them up the first climb. Etienne Bonello set the pace in front followed closely by Maurice Formosa, Jason Vella, Clive Ebejer, Mark Bonnici, Gerard Said, Jeffrey Borg and Paul Zarb.

Bonello had no intention to ease his pace as he charged the hill, increasing the pace till reaching the top. He managed to open a small lead early in the race.

Formosa was the immediate chaser and managed to eat back some of Bonello’s advantage in the downhill sections.

Into the second lap Bonello was forced to stop his progress as his rear wheel became loose. Formosa overtook Bonello to take the lead.

There was no time to waste for Bonello, since as soon as he fixed the mechanical fault, he went on to chase Formosa putting the hammer down up the hill. He managed to overtake Formosa and open an advantage.

Bonello, now in full race mode, cruised to the finish in first place. Formosa finished in second place despite suffering a crash in the third lap, as he crossed the line followed by his team mate Clive Ebejer, who finished in third spot.

Bonello leapfrogged Formosa in the final Points Series classification by a mere five points with a total of 1,005 points. Formosa finished with 1,000 and Clive Ebejer was third with 890 points.