NATIONAL cyclist Orville Hinds of Team Evolution returned a time of two hours 12 minutes 11 seconds in winning the COURTS Guyana-sponsored Independence 50-Mile cycle road race which was staged in Berbice on Sunday.Hinds dominated the entire race and together with Andrew Hicks of Trojan Cycle Club of Berbice, led the pack for almost the entire race.
Hinds and Hicks, along with Silvio Innis, broke from the pack from the time they were given the green flag by Region Six Chairman David Armogan outside the COURTS office on Main Street, New Amsterdam.
Hicks took four of the eight sprint points, Hinds three and Innis one.
With six miles remaining in the race, Marlon ‘Fishy’ Williams (Team Gillette Evolution), Shaquille Agard of Linden Bauxite Flyers Cycle Club, Christopher Griffith and Jeban and Romello Crawford broke away from the peloton and soon were on the heels of the leaders.
With three miles to go, it was a race of seven desperate riders. Hicks’ chain slipped off the gearwheel and he was out of contention. Williams finished second behind his teammate, while Agard was third.
Crawford who crossed the finish line fourth was given the fifth spot because he was assisted during the race. Griffith was fourth. Innis rounded off the top six finishers.
Deeraj Garbarran won the junior category ahead of Hicks.
The cyclists after wheeling off from Main Street, battled to Nand Persaud Limited Complex on the Corentyne Coast before turning back to finish at the place of origin.
The females and U-16 cyclists participated in a 10-mile race from Fyrish Village and finished outside of COURTS New Amsterdam. The first three female cyclists were Christine Matterson, Whitney Poyer and Shamika Teixeira finishing in that order.
Prior to the start of the race, BMX riders competed in a 1.5-mile race from Marks Bridge to COURTS. The winners were Zamal Khan, Jason Cameron, Kevin Collins and Gemoore Daniels in that order.
Meanwhile, Curtis Dey and Clement Doris also received prizes as being the first two riders from Flying Ace Cycle Club (FACC) to cross the finish line.
Coach of the FACC, Randolph Roberts, in acknowledging that this was the third year that COURTS had sponsored the event, explained that it is normally held in observance of Guyana’s Republic anniversary, but because this year Guyana will be celebrating its 50th Independence anniversary, it was so named.
“When COURTS came to Guyana, cycling was the first sporting event that they got themselves in.” He also took the opportunity to call on the corporate business community in New Amsterdam to follow COURTS and support sports and more so cycling.
Manager of COURTS New Amsterdam, Stanley McKenzie, in brief remarks thanked all of the participants and noted that he was particularly pleased to see riders from Linden and Georgetown participating. He promised to make the event bigger next year when it will return to the COURTS Republic race.
Twenty-five riders participated in the main race. Marketing Director of the company Pernell Cummings gave a guarantee that COURTS will partner with the FACC next year to have the event.