Aidan Buttigieg and Diana Muscat Win Opening Race of the 2025 National Road Cycling Championship

The 2025 edition of the National Road Cycling Championship got underway with strong performances from Aidan Buttigieg of Team Polti Visit Malta and Diana Muscat of Team Greens. Both claimed victory in the first race of the series organised by the Malta Cycling Federation.

The opening event was held on the San Martin circuit, consisting of seven laps for the Elite category and six laps for both the Masters and Women’s categories. Each lap measured 8.8km.

Elite Category

In a tightly contested race, Aidan Buttigieg crossed the finish line first in the Elite category with a time of 1:37:31.92, narrowly edging out Jacob Schembri of Bike It Up Racing (1:37:32.41) and Andrea Mifsud of Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur (1:37:32.65) in a dramatic final sprint.

Women’s Category

The Women’s race was dominated by Diana Muscat of Team Greens, who secured first place with a time of 1:33:06.74. She was followed by Deborah Schembri of Gozo CC (1:34:11.78), while Marie Claire Aquilina, also of Team Greens, completed the podium in third place with a time of 1:44:49.14.

Masters Categories

In the Masters 40+ division, Team Greens delivered a dominant performance, with Joaquin Rojas winning the race in 1:29:24.44. He was joined on the podium by teammates Gesred Borg (1:32:11.40) and Arek Kawalec (1:32:11.51).

Meanwhile, David Cushing of Bike It Up Racing claimed victory in the Masters 50+ category, finishing in 1:29:55.67. He was followed by Federico Sermarini of The Cyclist by Agones (1:48:52.65) and Joseph Caruana of Team Greens (2:00:18.37).

Preparation for International Competition

This race also served as preparation for the upcoming Games of the Small States of Europe, which will be held in Andorra in the coming week.

Acknowledgements and Well Wishes

The Malta Cycling Federation extended well wishes for a speedy recovery to Stefan Debono of Team Greens, who was involved in an incident during the race. The Federation also thanked the club officials, the local councils of San Pawl il-Baħar and Mġarr, as well as Transport Malta officers for their support in ensuring the successful organisation of the event despite ongoing challenges.

The next race of the championship will be held on Sunday, 8 June 2025, on the Pinellu circuit in Mellieha.