-cycle road race which pedals off today.

GUYANA’s top racing cyclists are expected to face the starter at 07:30hrs this morning for the 6th Annual Mohamed Kadir Memorial 70-mile Cycle Road Race which will pedal off at 07:30hrs today from Homestretch Avenue and proceed to Dora on the Linden Highway before returning to the place of origin for the finish.
The event, a much-anticipated one on the Guyana Cycle Federation’s (GCF) calendar of events, is expected to be very keenly contested as the majority of the cyclists are firing on all cylinders during this period of the cycling season.
And last year’s winner, Hamza Eastman, will be hard pressed to make a successful defence of his victory last year when he registered three hours, nine minutes 17 seconds in winning ahead of Geron Williams, Shaquel Agard, Raul Leal, Stephano Husbands, Junior Niles, Christopher Holder and Paul Cho-Wee-Nam.
After pedaling off from Homestretch Avenue, the seniors and juniors will journey to Dora on the Linden Highway before turning back to the place of origin for the finish, while the veterans under 45 years of age as well as the mountain bikers will turn back at the first hill past Splashmin’s Fun Park on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.
The top three juniors, veterans, juveniles and mountain bikers will also be rewarded for their efforts.
Last year, Junior Niles won the veterans under-45 years category from Paul Cho-Wee-Nam and Stephen Fernandes respectively, while Raphael Leung won the junior category ahead of Jernel Yearwood and Christopher Cornelius, in that order.
Most likely, the pedal pushers will use today’s event as a warm-up for next Sunday’s Digicel sponsored Cancer Awareness month race which will be held over the same course with over $900,000 in prize money up for grabs.