FLYING Stars Cycle Club cyclist Ian ‘Dumb Boy’ Jackson dominated the field on the downward journey to ride away with the seventh annual Roraima Bikers Club (RBC)-organised National Milling Company (NAMILCO) Wheat Up-sponsored CARICOM Day cycle road race yesterday.
When the record number of 64 cyclists were sent on their way, defending and national champion Warren ‘40’ McKay signalled his intentions of not giving up his crown easily, by surging to front as they were about to pass the village of Eccles.
He was joined by Jude Bently, Robin Persaud and Marlon ‘Fishy’ Williams as he approached Supply and about five minutes later, the peloton which included Jackson, Junior Niles, Christopher Persaud, Walter Grant-Stuart and Albert Philander among others, connected with them.
It was a cat-and-mouse game on the upward journey, as several breaks were made but they were short-lived, as none of the cyclists allowed his rivals to get out of sight for too long as they approached the turn-back point at Long Creek on the Linden Highway.
The scenario did not change on the downward journey, as there were lots of breaks but as was the case going up, so it was coming down; for the peloton wheeled in the frontrunners before they had the time to establish a sizeable lead.
Jackson refused to be choked in with the cat-and-mouse situation that was taking place within the peloton, and as they approached the village of Diamond, he made his move to front which was unanswered by the peloton. He crossed the finish line ahead of everyone in a time of 2.42:40.
McKay, who was dropped by the peloton, worked his way back to reconnect at the Eccles junction and then jumped the pack 50 metres away from the finish line to claim the runner-up position two minutes after Jackson had crossed the line.
Persaud, Bently, Grant-Stuart and Williams completed the top six in that order, while in the Veteran’s category, Berbice’s Toran Harris took the top position with a time of 1.28:25 from Andy Spencer and Linden Blackman respectively.
Continental Cycle Club’s Kurt La Rose took the junior category from his club mate Paul De Nobrega and Neil Reece of Berbice while Kester Croal won the Upright/Mountain Bike category from Ricky Kissoon and Oziah McAulay respectively.
The Ladies’ category which was introduced for the first time this year was won by Linden’s Hazeline Bennett from Naomi Singh, who hails from the East Coast of Demerara, and Golin Debideen also from Linden.
Even though he finished in the fourth position, Bently still managed to ride away with four sprint prizes, McKay three, Jackson two and Grant-Stuart one.
At the simple presentation ceremony that followed in the compound of NAMILCO, president of RBC Brian Allen thanked the sponsors and congratulated the cyclists for competing in another keenly contested event and vowed to make next year’s a bigger one that will see the participation of cyclists from other CARICOM countries.
“Thanks to NAMILCO for their support over the years to sports, more so cycling, as we all look forward to this time of the year for this race which was another keenly contested one and accident-free despite the weather.
“Come next year, the event will be a true CARICOM race with the participation of cyclists from our Caricom brothers and sisters countries, which means the race will be more competitive and exciting once again,” said Allen.
Chief Executive Officer of NAMILCO, Bert Sukhai, took the time to express his pleasure at being associated with the event and thanked the organisers for running off another successful event.
“I am very pleased to see such a large crowd gathered in the compound of NAMILCO today. We have no apologies and no regrets sponsoring this race and I am pleased to hear the president of RBC making arrangements to have CARICOM cyclists compete next year,” stated Sukhai.
“I am hoping a new format of the race will be introduced next year, making it more entertaining not only for the cyclists, but the public as well and we will continue to not only sponsor this event, but sports in Guyana in the future and with that I wish to congratulate the winners and the participants for another entertaining and successful event.”
Director of Sport Neil Kumar was on hand to deliver a brief address and while he took the time to congratulate the various category winners, who were all presented with cash prizes, trophies and medals along with a championship jersey, he charged the cyclists to always remain disciplined in whatever they do.
All the participants received medallions, while the various category winners each collected a championship jersey, trophy, medallion and cash prizes, while Grant-Stuart who is differently-able, was presented with a special prize from Sukhai.
by Calvin Roberts