-Jamual John finishes second overall after victory in final stage

BRITON John entered yesterday’s final stage of the Guyana Cycling Federation Independence Three-Stage meet with a lead against his competitors, but instead of only countering their attacks, he made one of his own—which ensured that he finished as overall champion of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport-sponsored event.
The race from Kara Kara, in Linden, to Banks DIH at Thirst Park, on the outskirts of the capital city, tested the endurance, skills and mindset of Guyana’s top cyclists; many were battered and bruised from the 100-odd miles of the previous day’s two stages in Berbice and then from the Ancient County to Georgetown.
For 21-year-old John, it was about tactics over the undulating highway and taking the attack to the field; he did so right after Splashmin’s Resort and never looked back.
With rival and friend, Jamual John at his side, the pair blistered through the East Bank Demerara road to finish over three minutes ahead of all other competitors.
As the finish line neared, former national road race champion, Jamual, attempted to break free. He did so twice since he needed to finish by over 14 seconds in order to take the overall prize.

Briton countered in both instances to crush Jamual’s hopes. It then took an aggressive attack from behind by Jamual in the last 1000 metres to surge ahead for the stage victory. Due to his dominance, the third stage winner also finished second overall, although he started yesterday’s 65-mile race in third position.
Overall, Briton, from We Stand United, won in a time of 6:56:57, while Jamual, from Foundation, out of New York, placed second in a time of 6:57:09 and Paul DeNobrega third in a time of 7:01:56. New York cyclist, Raynauth Jeffrey, who won Stage Two on Saturday afternoon, placed fourth with an overall time of 7:02:17. Team Evolution’s Christopher Griffith finished six seconds behind Jeffrey for the fifth overall position (7:02:23).
Meanwhile, Alex Mendes finished sixth overall, to capture the Masters’ Championship title. The 44-year-old tallied a total time of 7:02:26.
Senior cyclist Kemuel Moses (Team Alanis) finished two seconds after in seventh, while Masters cyclists, Steve Fernandes (7:02:29), Paul Choo-wee-nam (7:02:30), Walter Grant-Stuart (7:02:37) and Ian Jackson (7:02:47) occupied positions 8-11.

Adelie Hodge, Kwame Ridley, Deeraj Garbarran, Segun Hubbard, Jaikarran Sukhai, Curtis Dey, Horace Burrowes and Kwame Fortune rounded off the top 19, in that order. The Juniors and Females only raced over the first two stages on Saturday.
Overall, Linden Bauxite Flyers Cycle Club’s Suzanne Hamilton finished ahead of Shenika Tiexeira and Aneisha Crandon in the female battle.
David Hicks won the Stage Two Junior battle by a large enough margin to take the overall Junior title, while Mario Washington (Stage One top junior) finished second, Aaron Newton third and teenager, Alex Leung, fourth.
Prior to this weekend, the Independence Three-Stage event was last held in 2016.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr visited the finish line yesterday to interact with the cyclists.