TACTICAL riding from Carlton Wheelers Cycle Club’s Robin Persaud, saw the cyclists edging past his arch rival and Roraima Bikers Club’s Alanzo Greaves just before the line, to take the top prize in yesterday’s second annual Banks DIH/PowerAde sponsored 50 miles cycle road race in a time of 1h. 56m: 08secs.

Over 40 cyclists including Naomi Singh were sent on their way from Wales Police Station, where they proceeded to Bushy Park and back to the Demerara Harbour Bridge for the finish and as they passed the finish line for the first time, eight cyclists made a move to the front of the peloton.
They were Persaud, Greaves, defending champion Jude Bentley, Andrew Reece, Raymond Newton, Albert Philander and two juniors in Andre Abdool and Akeem Wilkinson respectively, and together they worked to open a lead of 200 metres on the peloton.
As the front runners worked assiduously hard to maintain their lead, the peloton which included Enzo Matthews, Junior Niles, Marlon King, Hamza Eastman, Stephen Fernandes, Eric Sankar, Alonso Ambrose, Kravitz Jeffrey and Christopher Persaud, amongst others worked in tandem to reduce their lead.
The front runners dropped Philander as they entered Blankenburg, but he was replaced shortly by Fernandes and they worked together before the chasing peloton which was led by King, connected as they approached Ruby, on the East Bank of Essequibo.
On the downward journey, several cyclists including Greaves, Bentley, Reece, Philander and Matthews made a solo move but it was short-lived, while Abdool picked up a puncture to his front wheel as they approached Uitvlugt.
In the sprint for home, Robin Persaud, who with the win registered his second victory for the season, called on his reserves to power past a winded looking Greaves just before the line to take the win, with Philander, Reece, Sankar and Newton completing the top six paying positions.
Even though he did not place in the top six, Bentley’s hard work during the breaks saw him ride off with five of the eight prime prizes, with Robin Persaud, Sankar and Reece sharing the other three equally.
King took the top spot in the Junior category over Ambrose and Jeffrey, but Jeffrey was disqualified after he was caught breaching the rules –motor pacing behind a scooter, hence the organisers awarded the position to Abdool, who made a wheel change and connected with the peloton.
The Mountain bike category was won by Keon Thomas over Richard Charles and Ray Raul in that order, with Ralph Williams taking the top podium spot in the Veteran category away from Kennard Lovell and Talim Shaw respectively.
Banks DIH’s Communications Manager Troy Peters was on hand to assist with the presentation of prizes and prior to doing so, congratulated the organisers and cyclists for a successful event, while committing his company’s sponsorship to the event, next year.
Meanwhile, national cycling coach Hassan Mohammed informed Chronicle Sport that this year’s Independence three stage cycle road race which covers a distance of 171.5 miles, and which was won last year by Team Coco’s Ivan Dominguez in a time of 6h.44mins:54secs is set for Saturday May 17 and Sunday May 18 respectively.