NSC/MOH/ NAPS 8th annual five stage `Ride for life’ Cycle Race

`Fishy’ wins penultimate stage
-Greaves still in lead

MARLON `Fishy’ Williams out rode the field to win the fourth stage of the National Sports Commission/Ministry of Health/National AIDS Programme Secretariat’s 8th Annual five stage `Ride for life’ Cycle Road Race, yesterday, on the Essequibo Coast.Williams stopped the clock at two hours, 36 minutes 53 seconds to finish one minute three seconds ahead of the bunch. However, Williams is still placed fourth overall going into today’s final stage, which gets underway at 08:00hrs from Kara Kara, Linden Highway and will conclude on Homestretch Avenue.
In yesterday’s stage, race leader Alonzo Greaves outsprinted Geron Williams, Robin Persaud, Michael Anthony and Paul DeNobrega, among others, to the line in a very exciting bunch finish at Suddie.
Geron Williams is currently second overall, while Persaud is third, DeNobrega fifth, Horace Burrowes sixth, Scott Savory seventh, Anthony eight, Paul Cho-Wee-Nam ninth and Shaquille Agard 10th, with 26 seconds separating Greaves from Marlon Williams, which will make today’s final stage interesting.
In the veterans’ category, Persaud has the overall lead, while in the junior division, Anthony is the leader ahead of Agard and Alonzo Ambrose respectively.
Thirty one (31) cyclists faced the starter at Supenaam yesterday morning and were sent on their way by Region 2 Regional Chairman Ali Baksh who wished all of them well and called on them to give of their best.
Soon after they were given the green flag, there was much jostling by the cyclists to secure a good position, but five minutes into the race, Greaves, Persaud, Cho-Wee-Nam and two other cyclists went out and tried to establish a break, but their efforts were in vain as the remainder of the cyclists pulled them back in.
There were several attempts by other cyclists to establish breaks, leading up to Suddie, where Geron Williams started to high pace and the entire field came back together.
Ambrose took the first of six prime prizes and Orville Hinds the second and as the riders went through Anna Regina, Marlon Williams surged ahead taking the third and continued in the same momentum to win the final three, thereby, establishing a huge lead, which was never challenged again by the others, as he won the stage comfortably.
As the chasing pack approached the finish line, Geron Williams attacked the pack but Greaves, Persaud and a host of other riders were equal to the task and picked him up, following which, Greaves edged Geron Williams and Persaud by a mere half length of a front wheel.
At the end of the stage, the top three finishers were presented with trophies, compliments of Universal Pharmacy of Suddie.
For today’s stage, Greaves will really have to be in good nick to stave off the challenge of the other top four as this stage is very gruelling, but he is capable of holding his own and might very well do so.
Meanwhile, cycling enthusiasts are peeved that Team COCO pulled out of the event after the completion of the second stage, with most of them saying if the US based team had been a part of the third and fourth stages, the leaders would not have been the four that are at the top at the moment.
Some stated that despite the 30-second penalty that they received after the second stage for a breach of the rules, they would still have had a three minute lead on the others going into the third stage which was won by Marlon Williams, and their presence would have made the event a more exciting one.

(By Michael DaSilva)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.