Persaud takes third stage, but Jeffrey still leads

TACTICAL riding from Robin Persaud, saw him take the third stage from Wales to Bushy Park, East Bank Essequibo in the National Sports Commission/Ministry of Sports/Ministry of Health/Guyana Cycling Federation seventh annual ‘Ride for Life’ five-stage cycle road race yesterday morning.

Persaud, who rides under the Carlton Wheelers Cycle Club banner, did well to outsprint the Team Coco’s pair of Darren Matthews, who took the second stage the previous day and defending champion, Jaime Ramirez, to stop the clock at 58m: 42secs.
Inaugural race winner Alanzo Greaves of Roraima Bikers Club, called on his sprinting ability to edge Continental’s Geron Williams for fourth position, three seconds after the front trio crossed the line, with USA based Guyanese Scott Savory finishing sixth, 10 seconds after Williams.
Despite taking the stage, Persaud still lingers behind overall race leader in National Time Trial/Road Race champion and Team Coco’s, Raynauth Jeffrey, whose lead has been cut by a mere 10 seconds by Matthews, following the Barbadian second place finish yesterday morning.
After handing over the second stage winner’s jersey to Matthews and delivering a pep talk to the 39 cyclists, Director of Sport, Neil Kumar, sent the riders on their way for the 35-mile journey, at 09:00hrs, following which, Persaud, Matthews and Ramirez, made a move to the front of the peloton as they approached Stewartville.
Together the trio worked in tandem as they attempted to build a lead on the peloton that included Jeffrey, Williams, Pollydore, Greaves, Junior Niles, Raymond Newton, Paul Choo-Wee-Nam, Mario King, Eric Sankar, Hamza Eastman, Orville Hinds, and the lone female competitor in Naomi Singh.
They led by as much as 55 seconds over the peloton who worked in tandem to wheel in the front runners, all to no avail, as Persaud put in his piece at the front to ensure they were not caught, against the wiles of Matthews and Ramirez.
In the sprint for home, Matthews offered a challenge, but unlike the previous afternoon when he played possum on his Guyanese competitors, he found Persaud being equal and above the task at hand to take the stage easily.
Meanwhile, at the end of yesterday’s third stage, Jeffrey is still sitting comfortably at the top of the points table with a time of 4h. 57m: 50secs, 17 seconds ahead of Matthews, who is a further 12 seconds ahead of Williams in third place position.
Greaves is in fourth place, one second adrift of Williams; Pollydore, who trails Greaves by nine seconds, is in fifth position, with DeNobrega in sixth with an overall time of 5h. 00mins: 18secs, as he trails Jeffrey by 2m: 28secs.
The riders take to the roads in Essequibo for today’s third stage which is the longest stage of the race, with the cyclists competing for supremacy over a distance of 67 miles (107.5km), journeying from Supenaam to Charity and back to Suddie for the finish, commencing at 07:30hrs.

(By Calvin Roberts)