Under cloudy skies and in conditions ideal for cycling, senior campaigner Lear Nunes rode away with the School Boys and Novices’ 35-lap feature race at the 9th annual P&P Insurance Brokers cycling programme at the National Park yesterday.
The 29-year-old Continental Cycling Club rider dethroned defending champion Alonzo Greaves, who opted out of the race in the 22nd lap after he was lapped. Nunes’ winning time of 1 hour, 21 minutes, 35.3 seconds, bettered Greaves’ last year time of 1 hour, 26 minutes and 40.46 seconds.
Naomi Singh
In a tactical victory which was assisted by the presence of his experienced team-mate Warren Mckay in the closing stages, Nunes crossed the line ahead of 34-year-old Robin Persaud and 35-year-old Junior Niles. Albert Philander finished fourth.
One-arm rider Walter Grant-Stuart and Christopher Persaud finished 5th and 6th respectively, as the small crowd braved the inclement weather to watch the feature race conclude in a slight drizzle.
Twenty rides faced the starter’s orders, including the much touted trio of National cyclists McKay, Greaves (who campaigns in Trinidad) and Geron Williams. But it was Niles who took an early lead before falling back to the ‘chasing pack’ later in the race.
McKay, Williams and Greaves rode most of the race in a three-man bunch and made no genuine attempt to stay with the front-runners.
McKay broke away from Williams and Greaves in the 20th lap but by that time the leading pack was just a few metres away from an entire lap’s lead on the trio. Williams dropped out after being lapped.
Greaves then dropped out but McKay, who played a pivotal in setting-up Nunes’ victory, opted to continue after he was lapped in the 23rd lap and was called in by the race official with nine laps to go.
With eight laps remaining, 12 cyclists had already dropped out, making it a six-man contest, since McKay who continued to ‘coach’ Nunes was over a lap behind the others. Sixty-two-year-old Monty Parris demonstrated enviable stamina for his age and completed the event, but was never in the reckoning.
Nunes, who took three Prime Point prizes, said afterwards that he was pleased with his performance and informed that his teammates, especially McKay, played a big role on the track in his success.
Niles had two Prime Point prizes while Philander, McKay and veteran Thura Harris copped the other three.
The earlier races were contested in heavy rain with Christopher Holder taking the Juveniles title, which was won by Neil Reece last year. Kurt La Rose and Leon Haymer followed Holder to across the line in the 10-lap battle, while Parris took the Over-50 5-lap event, with Malcolm Gilkes placing 2nd and Maurice Fagurdes 3rd.
Niles, Harris and Kennard Lovell finished in that order in the Veterans under-50 5-lap race, while Kevin Edwards won the Upright 5-lap encounter.
Pint-size pre-teen Nicholas Nandan made an auspicious debut to racing at the National Park by winning the BMX Boys 6-9 (2 laps) and 9-12 (3-laps) races, while Akeem Lakon finished first in the BMX 12-14 (3-lap) category.
There was no female race due to the lack of participants, but lone female rider, 16-year-old Naomi Singh rode in the Boys 12-14 years 3-lap race and finished 2nd behind Jason Pollydore. Seon Anderson placed 3rd.
Singh also participated in the Juvenile Race but dropped out after being troubled by the torrential rain.
Director of P&P Insurance Brokers Bish Panday told the gathering at the presentation of trophies that he is happy to have been sponsoring the event for the past nine years and urged youths to get involved in Sports and away from the negative aspects of life like crime and drugs.
“We (P&P Insurance Brokers) continue to contribute to the development of sports in Guyana, since I feel that sport is a very important tool in nation building and I am very interested in sports development,” said Panday, a former administrator for cricket and table tennis at a national level.
Panday said he was especially pleased to see the many parents of the young cyclists present, and singled out Parris as an example of someone still staying fit at 62 and participating in competitive sports.
The day’s card was organised by hard-working national cycling coach, Hassan Mohamed, who thanked Panday for his continued support.
A cycling coach for half a century, Mohamed told Kaieteur Sport that there is plenty of talent in the sport locally, but lamented that females seem not to want to get involved in cycling despite his best efforts to attract them to the sport.
Mohamed’s next event is scheduled for the National Park on Saturday, when he stages an 11-race programme sponsored by Geddes Grant.
The 10th annual Castrol Father’s Day Road race will peddle off from the Wales Police Station from 9:00hrs on Sunday and proceed to Bushy Park in Parika before finishing at the Demerara Harbour Bridge.