SEASONED cyclist and winner of last December three-stage time trial, Briton John, surged to victory in the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) 50-mile road race, which was held yesterday from Georgetown to Mahaica and back. The We Stand United Cycle Club cyclist clocked one hour, 49 minutes and 12 seconds, which resulted in him finishing a few minutes ahead of his closest competitor in the race. Last month’s Forbes Burnham Memorial Cycling road race winner, Marcus Keiler, finished second, while Christopher Griffith placed third.  Alex Mendes followed in fourth, Andrew Hicks fifth and Deoraj Gharbarran sixth.

Mendes was the first cyclist to cross the finish line in the Masters’ Division, with Segun Hubbard second and Stephen Fernandes third. Sherwin Sampson finished as the top Junior Division rider at the event, with Aaron Newton and Alex Leung in second and third respectively. Cyclists were battling for $150,000 in cash prizes.   John won $20,000, Keiler $18,000 and Griffith $15,000. In total, the senior cyclists battled for $83,000 in prizes. Both the Masters/Veterans and the juniors  competed for $37,000 in cash prizes. The winners of both events won $15,000, while the second-place finishers received $12,000 and third-place $10,000. Meanwhile, John and Junior Niles both won two prime prizes, while Sampson and Kwame Ridley won one each.