Philander wins
feature 30-lap event
ALBERT Philander registered one hour, 11 minutes 18 seconds in winning the feature 30-lap event of the Roraima Bikers organised George Cumberbatch Memorial Cycle Race which was staged in the National Park yesterday.
Despite suffering a puncture to his cycle wheel while leading during the 15th lap, Philander changed wheels quickly and was able to reconnect to the leading bunch then went on to win by a handsome margin from Alonzo Greaves.
The other top four finishers were Warren McKay, John Charles, Daniel Ramchurjee and Marlon `Fishy’ Williams.
So dominant was Philander that he carted off five of the 10 prime prizes that were up for grabs while Greaves won two and McKay three.
In other results, Leer Nunes won a 10-lap race for mountain bikers. Second was Kester Kroal and third Richard Charles.
The other top three positions were occupied by Keon Thomas, Ozia McUally and Andre Petty, while Jude Bentley won all five prime prizes that were up for grabs.
Bentley who dominated the race throughout, could have won the race quite easily, but decided against crossing the finish line even though he had more than 30 seconds lead over the others.
Instead of crossing the line first, Bentley dismounted inches away from the line and shouted words of encouragement to the other competitors.
Williams won the 10-lap race for categories one and two riders ahead of Raymond Newton and McKay respectively, while Philander was first in the 10-lap event for categories three and four cyclists.
Second was Enzo Matthews and third Ramchurjee.
The five-lap race for veteran’s under-50 was won by Robert Beaton while Monty Parries and Aubrey Greavesande placed second and third respectively.
In the five-lap event for veteran’s under-50 years of age, Phillip Piggott was first, Andrew Spencer second and junior third.
Christopher Holder won the 10-lap event for juniors and juveniles ahead of Paul D’Nobrega and Neil Reece.
In the BMX category, Raymond Perez won the two-lap race for the seven to 11 years age group. Second was Crystal Blackman and third Deeraj Garbarran.
Darrius Ramsammy won the two-lap race for boys 12-14 ahead of Ravindra Looknauth, while in the boys open event over four laps, Mario King was first, Davenand Bissoon second and Quacy Duncan third.
The presentation of prizes to the respective winners was done by Cumberbatch’s two sons Delon and Patrice along with Marlon Humphrey, son of the event’s sponsor George Humphrey.
In the feature event, Philander was with the main chasing pack during the fifth lap, approximately 100 metres adrift of the leaders which included Niles and Greaves, while the back bunch was approximately a further 100 metres away.
The lead was maintained until the 10th lap as the main chasing pack which was headed by Newton connected to the leaders.
It was at this point that Philander made his intentions known as he attacked the pack and opened a lead over the bunch and this was maintained until the 15th lap when he suffered a puncture and had to get a change of wheel.
By this time, the chasing pack overtook him, but he quickly got a replacement and during the 16th lap, he reconnected.
At this point, Greaves attacked and led for the remainder of the lap, but with 11 laps remaining, Greaves was sucked into the chasing pack which was headed by Newton.
With 10 laps to go, McKay launched an attack but was pursued by Ramchurjee and Robin Persaud while the main chasing pack was not far off the pace.
Philander attacked once again with six laps remaining and was never caught again, even though Greaves went in hot pursuit of him during the final lap.