The Malta Cycling Federation’s long-standing ambition to make the Tour of Malta an important event in the Maltese sporting calendar and to get international recognition for the race is well known. 

This year the event has been given a boost with the sponsorship by Christina Watches that was brokered by their local agents 202 Jewellery.

Christina Watches sponsor a UCI licenced Cycling team and their sponsorship of the Tour of Malta has enabled the participation of the Christina Watches Onfone Cycling Team as VIP Guest of the Tour.

This has been perceived in Scandinavia as a great coup for the Christina Watches and has generated great interest in all Scandinavian countries. 

This interest in the Tour of Malta has raised the profile of the race much higher than was ever expected.  So much so, that the MCF has been contacted by Scandinavian bodies to ask about the Tour of Malta.

The participation of Team Christina Watches Onfone has intrigued other UCI licenced teams and the MCF has been contacted by a number of UCI licenced teams about the possible participation of the Tour of Malta 2012.

The MCF, in fact, has reached agreement with Team OneCo Masterhus from Norway to participate in a new category in the Tour of Malta. 

The new category is the Elite Pro and Team OneCo Masterhus will compete against Team Christina Watches Onfone in this category.  This category will not impact on the final result of the Overall winner of the Tour of Malta, which will still be from the other categories. 

Team OneCo-Mesterhus, a Norwegian UCI Continental Team consisting of 12 promising Norwegian and Swedish riders, including Norway’s U-23 national Road Champion 2010 Magnus Boerresen (30 UCI points in 2011), Sweden’s best sprinter and silver medallist in Sweden’s national cyclotron championships in autumn 2011, Linus Dahlberg (8 UCI points in 2011),  and national junior time trial champion 2010, Phan Aage Haugaard.

The MCF thanked Christina Watches, 202 Jewellery and the MTA for making such participation possible.