---Police called in to quell disgruntled cyclists
TEENAGE cyclists Geron Williams stormed home by himself to win the third edition of the Ministry of Health/Ministry of Culture, Youth and sports’ `Riding for Life’ Cycle Road Race which culminated yesterday.
During the presentation ceremony which took place at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, the Police were summoned to the venue after some of the cyclists objected to the overall official results.
Four males and one female rank turned up at the venue with automatic weapons, apparently to silence the disgruntled cyclists who were protesting the results of the overall race and more so placing among the veteran category.
Williams returned an overall time of 10 hours 30 minutes 51 seconds (10:30.51) in winning the 226-mile five –stage event which commenced on Thursday in Berbice and ended yesterday in Georgetown.
According to veteran cyclist Raymond Newton, he was officially given third place in the veteran category despite finishing ahead of the official winner, Berbician Turhan Harris and his Georgetown compatriot Kennard Lovell in all of the five stages.
The announcement sparked confusion during the presentation ceremony which resulted in the police being called in but no arrests were made. Prior to the start of yesterday’s fifth stage, some cyclists protested their placing after four completed stages and refused to participate in the fifth stage, among them were Dwayne `Road Hog’ Gibbs and Marlon Morrison. Some overseas riders also voiced their objection to the placing but still went ahead and participated, but openly stated that they would not be returning for next year’s race. Asked if the matter concerning the official placing would be investigated and sorted out, acting president of the Guyana Cycling Federation Cheryl Thompson said she can only act if the cyclists make an official complaint. Going into yesterday’s fifth stage, six cyclists including Guyana’s Mark Lewis and Enzo Matthews along with Barbados’ Mario Forde attempted a break after climbing the first hill from Linden, but Williams attacked and was followed by Tony Simone and together the duo worked in unison and connected to the leaders. As the race progressed, the early leaders were dropped one at a time and Williams went on to win the stage ahead of Forde who started the sprint for the finish line from in front the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. After the race Williams told Chronicle Sport he is happy to have come out on top because he did not enter the event with the expectation to win as there were other top local and Regional riders in contention for the top prize. After the victory, Williams’ mother Gemma broke down in tears but said she is happy for her son. Forde placed second overall ahead of Simone, Enzo Matthews, Robin Persaud, Godfrey Pollydore, Alonzo Greaves, Simon Clarke, Eric Sankar and Turhan Harris respectively. Williams by virtue of winning the overall title also won the junior category ahead of Christopher Holder and Daniel Ramchurjee respectively, while Harris won the veteran category ahead of Lovell and Newton. Williams also won two of the six prime prizes that were up for grabs in yesterday’s fifth stage while Simone, Mark Lewis, Forde and Matthews won one each. By Michael DaSilva