De Nobrega takes cycle road race
-Controversy surrounds female winner
SIXTEEN (16) year old Carmel Secondary School student Paul De Nobrega rode a tactical race to take the 36 mile- cycle road race which was being contested in the second leg of this year’s Inter-Guiana Games yesterday morning. While De Nobrega had chalked up a comfortable victory, controversy surrounded the eventual winner in the female category in which Guyana’s Marica Dick and Naomi Singh crossed the line together and while the line judges awarded the race to Singh, photographic finish showed Dick was the winner by half a wheel.
After being sent on their way from the Nimes Gas Station by Guyana’s Director of Sports Neil Kumar, De Nobrega, Lavenette Christian (French Guiana) and Suriname’s Jair Tjon Enfo broke away from the peloton of 14 riders representing French Guiana, Suriname and host country Guyana.
The trio stayed together at the front where they increased their lead from 45 seconds to close to two minutes as they approached the turn back point at Vergenoegen, where Guyana’s captain Neil Reece Jnr and Suriname’s Murvin Arunjo had them within their sights.
In fact, as they took the turn around the body of national cycling coach Hassan Mohammed, both Reece and Arunjo had the leading trio in their sights, before De Nobrega who competes for Continental Cycle Club, stepped up the pace on the downward journey.
Enfo suffered a flat back wheel as they approached Uitvlugt and the time he took to have same change was not enough for him to reconnect with the front runners, as De Nobrega turned up the pace two notches on Christian who seemed more intent on reaching the finish line than chasing down his Guyanese opponent.
Realizing he was the lone soldier doing the battle for his country who suffered a humiliating defeat in the team time trials the previous day, De Nobrega showed what he is made of by taking his lead over Christian from seconds into minutes.
Spurred on by this country’s senior cyclists in team coach Warren ‘40’ Mc Kay, Geron Williams, Leer Nunes, Raymond Newton and to an extent Wayne De Abreu, De Nobrega easily took the race in a time of 1h 31m: 40 seconds with Christian taking the runner- up position 45 seconds later.
In a sprint for the finish line, Reece dominated Arunjo to take the bronze medal 4m: 59 seconds after De Nobrega, with Arunjo a further 12 seconds behind while Enfo was beaten in a sprint by Guyana’s Kurt La Rose for fifth place.
In an invited comment with Chronicle Sport, De Nobrega said he felt no pressure from his foreign competitors, as he knew what needed to be done.
“They tried to drop me on several occasions while we were going up, but I stayed with them and showed them I am equal to the task. The coach had a discussion with us before the start of the race and told us that once we are in the front pack, we need to make a move form a particular spot.
As I approached that spot which was shown to me on the upward journey, I said to myself ‘now or never’ and made my move. When I looked back, I saw the guy from Suriname with a flat back wheel while the French Guiana rider was looking to him for support, so I decided to go on my own and win the race.”
Asked how much this win means to Team Guyana, De Nobrega said a lot when taken into consideration the defeat suffered in the Time Trials the previous day, which meant they had to come out and prove a point and they did so effectively.
A photographic finish was what was needed to quell a brewing controversy in the female version of the race, wherein Singh who resides on the East Coast of Demerara and her throng of supporters felt she won the race from Dick, who like Reece Jnr, hails from Berbice.
They both crossed the line in a time of 1h; 15m 49 seconds, but according to the photos, Dick’s wheel had made a complete cross in comparison to Singh’s who later said she could have been the sole winner of the race, had she not adhered to instructions from Kennard Lovell.
“I had this race won fair and square. But every time I made a move to the front, He (Lovell) keep shouting at me reminding me that we are a team and asked me to wait on Marica which I did several times.
We decided to hold hands and take the line together, but I said it would have disqualified us, so about 25 metres from the line, I let go of her hand and made a sprint for the finish, only to lose out via a photograph,” stated Singh.
Efforts to contact a visibly shaken Dick for a comment was unsuccessful as she was being consoled by a relative, while Suriname’s Joann Velduizium claimed third in a time of 1h 21m 06 seconds three minutes ahead of Sandy Guittin from French Guiana.