The Maltese teams competing in the Andorra Epic successfully completed the demanding Queen Stage, widely regarded as the toughest day of the prestigious multi-stage mountain bike race.
Stage 2 took riders on a gruelling 58-kilometre route around Canillo, featuring 2,200 metres of climbing, gradients reaching 24 per cent, and a high point of 2,350 metres at Llac de Pessons, before finishing with the highly technical Beixalís descent. With riders already carrying fatigue from the opening stage, the Queen Stage is often considered the decisive day of the event.
The standout Maltese performance came from Team Gaudos, with Stephen Grima and Diana Muscat producing another excellent ride to finish fifth in their category. The result saw the pair climb two places on the day and an impressive 10 places overall in the general classification.
Grima praised his teammate after another strong performance.
“We worked hard and well as a team. Diana is in good form and, combined with the experience between us, our strategy of building through the stages is paying off. Despite being less experienced at racing at this level, she has handled the stages really well. The aim for tomorrow is to hold onto our positions and continue delivering good results.”
The pair described the rocky descents as one of the day’s greatest challenges, with riders negotiating large boulders rather than conventional trails. Fortunately, dry weather conditions made the technical sections less hazardous than they would have been in wet conditions.
Team Gebel u Blat, comprising Andrew Caruana and Brandon Sultana, also enjoyed a strong outing after executing their race strategy effectively. Sultana set the pace on the descents while Caruana powered through the demanding climbs.
“Today’s stage brought out the best in our team,” Sultana said. “We’re satisfied with the result. Now we rest and prepare for tomorrow’s stage, which should be fast with all the downhills.”
Meanwhile, Team Maltese Riders, featuring Jeffrey Borg and Antoine Sultana, continued their steady progress by moving up from 31st to 27th place overall. Maintaining their successful approach, Sultana led the climbing sections while Borg excelled on the technical descents.
The pair described the course as “extremely technical, particularly off-road, with steep inclines throughout,” but were pleased to finish strongly and are already focused on the next challenge.
Attention now turns to Stage 3, the penultimate stage of the Andorra Epic. The 52-kilometre route at Naturland is expected to favour confident descenders, featuring a sustained downhill from Roca de Pimes Refuge through a combination of bike park trails and natural singletrack.
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