National selection third in the Tour of Kosovo

A Maltese selection, composed of Christian Formosa, James Mifsud, William Hili, Wayne Spiteri, Johan Galea and Clive Ebejer, finished third at the 15th Tour of Kosovo, held recently.

The contingent, assisted by the Maltese Olympic Committee, was led by Malta Cycling Federation official Joe Bajada and team manager Frank Dimech.

This was the second time a team from Malta has taken part in the four-stage Tour of Kosovo which started from capital city Pristina.

Hili was the first Maltese rider to finish the race in Ferizaj in 3:05.10. He was ranked 10th overall and followed home by Spiteri, Ebejer and Formosa.

The second stage, over a distance of 147km, finished in Peje.

Mifsud was forced to retire due to illness and Formosa fell 95km into the race as he was caught in a pile-up.

Formosa, however, staged a great recovery after the fall and raced home in fifth place followed closely by Ebejer, Hili, Spiteri and Galea.

The third stage, which started in Peje and covered a distance of 100km, wasn’t a good one for the Maltese squad.

Around the 39km mark, Galea fell off his bicycle, suffering a fracture to his right clavicle.

Mifsud, who was still under the weather, retired while Hili had a flat tyre and fell off the pace.

Formosa still managed a creditable ninth place in a time of 2:42.46 as Spiteri entered the gantry 14th ahead of Hili and Ebejer.

The fourth stage, over 124km, had a difficult setting with riders having to pedal at 1,500 feet above sea level over a distance of eight kilometres along the route.

Despite the conditions, Formosa still managed eighth place, recording a time of 3:37.19.

Alban Nuha, of Kosovo, was the winner of tour with an accumulated time of 13:23.45.

Formosa had the best finishing time for the Maltese team, 13:46.36, to place eighth overall. Hili occupied 11th place with a time of 13:52.42. Spiteri and Ebejer followed with an identical 13:54.36.

Malta finished third in the team standings with an aggregate time of 41:33.54. Kosovo took the honours with an overall time of 40:32.22 with Apollonia second on 40:48.07.