Hicks, Poyer hold the key to Dist. 6’s successful defence of championship title

NATIONAL cyclist Andrew Hicks and fellow Berbician Whitney Poyer holds the key for District Six (Corentyne) to make a successful defence of the Guyana Teachers Union/Ministry of Education 56th Annual National Schools Cycling Championship titles.
Having won the title last year, the Berbice cyclists are already leading the point standings with 269 points as against arch rivals – District 10 (Upper Demerara/Kwakwani) who are one point adrift.
With this in mind, the results of tomorrow’s open road races for both boys and girls will be the main factors to determine the Champion District.

This is where Hicks and Poyer come in as Hicks will be contesting the Boys’ open 40K event while Poyer will be a part of the Girls’ open 25K race.
A win for both Hicks and Poyer will see the District adding 20 more points to their tally as the winning District will secure 10 points from each category.
These valuable 20 points will give District 6 an unassailable lead which will be enough to see them successfully defending their title.
Hicks is a very active cyclist who has won several road races for the 2016 cycling season and against tougher opposition. He has also competed at the Regional level with much success and once again, against opposition far higher than what he will come up against in tomorrow’s 40K race.
Poyer, on the other hand, though not Guyana’s best female rider, has been very active this year and is by far, more experienced than the opposition and with this in mind, there is no reason why she cannot win the Girls’ 25k race.

District 10 for their part will depend on Jernel Yearwood in the Boys’ 40K race but Yearwood is far less experienced than Hicks and does not have the kind of mileage that Hicks has in his legs, and this is very important to note, as the more mileage you have in your legs during a cycling season, the better your chances are of doing well.
On the distaff side, for years, District 10 have not produced a top female cyclist and for years also, there were no races staged by local clubs that attracted female cyclists from the mining town, so it is safe to say that Poyer has no sort of opposition, come tomorrow.
The two races get underway at 10:00hrs from outside the Ocean View International Hotel, proceed up the East Coast of Demerara and return to the place of origin for the finish.