JUDGING from the reports carried in another section of the media as it relates to some of their team members’ high altitude training in Colombia over the past month, the question many cycling fans and enthusiasts would be asking when the 31st Annual Independence three-stage cycle road race pedals off tomorrow is: ‘Can Team Coco dominate?’

Guyana’s 2012 Junior Sportsman-of-the-Year Paul De Nobrega, Michael Anthony, Raynauth Jeffrey and Raul Leal are four of the seven cyclists who make up Team Coco Guyana, with Junior Niles, Walter Grant-Stuart and Christopher Holder being the other three.
Barbados’ Darren Matthews, Miami-based Ivan Dominguez, the defending champion for tomorrow’s event, which will see the riders cover a distance of 171.5 miles ((274.3km) over two days, Frank Travieso, Cueli Santos and Leonardo Martinez, complete the foreign team, who over the past three years have been taking the local cycling stage by storm.
But what strategies can cyclists from the local clubs such as Roraima Bikers Club, Carlton Wheelers, Flying Stars, Linden Bauxite Bombers and Kaieteur Cycle Clubs among others come up with to stop not only Team Coco from dominating cycling in Guyana, but other foreign teams as well?
First of all, the acronym T.E.A.M (Together Everybody Achieves More), needs to be applied which means cyclists such as Robin Persaud, Warren ‘40’ McKay, Jude Bentley, Marlon ‘Fishy’ Williams and Alonzo Greaves – who have been in impressive form this season, winning eight races to date – need to work together with their respective teammates.
There is no doubt that Team Coco are a formidable force on the roadways in Guyana when it comes to cycling, since they have implemented team riding to the last punctuation mark, even without the services of Dominguez, Travieso, Darren Matthews and Martinez.
The local members of the club, train together as often as time permits and according to De Nobrega, the team has been looking forward to tomorrow’s event with earnest, since they intend to show to the local cycling fraternity, the techniques, tricks and even tactics learnt while in Colombia.
The local clubs have reputable cyclists who, once they put aside their differences and work together, can stop the seemingly unbeatable Team Coco, starting with tomorrow’s event.
Niles is a former member of Carlton Wheelers, who will be looking to Robin Persaud, Bentley, Davenand Bissoon and Albert Philander (a former member of Roraima Bikers Club (RBC)), among others to steer their team’s challenge.
Greaves, McKay, Alex Mendes, Raymond ‘Steely’ Newton and young Mario King, will lead RBC’s challenge with Enzo Matthews and Geron Williams taking charge of the handle bars for Continental Cycle Club while Eric Sankar, Dwayne Gibbs and Linden Blackman do the same for Kaieteur Cycle Club.
Last year’s national Road Race champion Orville Hinds will lead Linden Bauxite Bombers lineup which also includes Rastaff O’Selmo and Montel Anthony and this is a team who can strongly challenge Team Coco, since they have been competing as a unit on the roadways.
A fit-looking Greaves did say Team Coco are the team to beat, a statement that was supported by Grant-Stuart, but with all the other teams, including Heatwave out of Trinidad and Tobago, who according to sources will be joining forces with Carlton Wheelers competing as a team, this year’s event can certainly be an exciting and enthralling one to witness.
Director of Sport within the National Sports Commission, Neil Kumar, told Chronicle Sport last week he is earnestly looking forward to this event, since he expects it to be fast and exciting.
However, if selfishness is not put aside to allow teamwork to take precedence then the local cycling fraternity will once again see a member from Team Coco lifting the silverware for the top finishers in this year’s event at the end of the third and final stage on Sunday.
So the question is still to be answered. An answer will be indicated at the end of tomorrow morning’s first stage which will see the riders pedal off from Corriverton at 07:30hrs and proceed to New Amsterdam, covering a distance of 46.6 miles.
In the other two stages they will leave Rosignol at 14:00hrs tomorrow for Carifesta Avenue, a distance of 60.4 miles, before they take to the Linden Highway Sunday morning, moving off from Kara Kara and proceeding to Homestretch Avenue, a distance of 64.5 miles.