AFTER his club Team COCO’s pulled out of the recently concluded five-stage cycle road race, following an infringement of the rules, reigning Digicel Cancer Awareness Cycle Road Race champion Raynauth ‘Obeah Man’ Jeffrey, will not be able to defend that crown this year when the event pedals off on Sunday morning.

This course of action came about after president of the Guyana Cycling Federation Cheryl Thompson demanded that Jeffrey’s club boss Ian ‘QB’ Davis make an apology for withdrawing his cyclists from the event at the end of the second stage.
During the stage that was held from Rosignol to Carifesta Avenue – the same for the upcoming Digicel event – a breakaway of three cyclists, including two from Team COCO’s, occurred but was not wide enough to cater for the three minutes interval.
Having breached the rules, David saw all his cyclists being handed a 30-second penalty by Race Commissar Malcolm Sonaram at the end of the stage, following which he withdrew his cyclists from competing in the event – a decision several cycling enthusiasts called premature.
However, Thompson at the presentation ceremony held at the completion of the five stages, called on Davis to issue an apology or face the consequences and with none forthcoming from the Miami, Florida-based Davis, Team COCO’s have found themselves in hot water.
Such a position means that not only Jeffrey will not be eligible to compete on Sunday, but the Veterans champion Junior Niles, who, like Jeffrey, dominated this event last year to take top honours in this category.
“The Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) will not allow Team COCO’s to take any further participation in any cycling event sanctioned by the GCF,” Sonaram told Chronicle Sport, adding that such a decision was made by the GCF president Thompson who said the penalty will be lifted when the Team’s management makes an apology.
With Jeffrey and Niles being unable to defend their title, a new senior champion who will pocket $250 000 and a veteran champion who will be rewarded with $50 000, will be crowned this Sunday in the event which carries a total prize money of G$1M.
The defending junior champion is Michael Anthony while Hazina Bharrat of Linden Bauxite Flyers Cycle Club, is the defending champion for the female category.
The juniors and the seniors will wheel off from the Berbice River Bridge, while the female and juveniles will move off from the bridge crossing the Mahaica Old Road. All categories of cyclists will cross the finish line on Carifesta Avenue after completing two laps around the outer circuit of the National Park.
For the senior category, the second place finisher will receive $200 000 while the other top four performers will collect $150 000, $100 000, $50 000 and $25 000 respectively.
In the junior category, the second- and third-place finishers will receive $50 000 and $30 000 respectively, as will the first- and second-place riders in the female and veterans categories, while the first three finishers in the Juvenile category will be rewarded with trophies.
(By Michael DaSilva)