Briton John wins overall, Jamual John clinches 3rd stage

Independence Three-Stage cycling…

– champion cyclist calls for richer rewards for this event

Story and photos by Brandon Corlette

United We Stand cyclist Briton John emerged as the victor of the Independence Three-Stage cycling race which was held on Saturday and Sunday across Guyana. In the 68-mile third and final stage which commenced at Linden and concluded at Banks DIH Thirst Park, Jamual John finished first, stopping the clock at two hours 42 minutes, while the overall winner, Briton, finished second.
Raynauth “Obeah Man” Jeffrey pipped Team Evolution’s Paul DeNobrega in an intense sprint for third place in the final stage. Kemuel Moses rode in fifth while Curtis Dey came in sixth.

King of the Three-Stage Briton John

Earlier, Jeffrey made early attacks, bossing the way but it was a cat-and-mouse battle on the highways. While there were a host of attacks, the most remarkable one came from the Johns. The duo attacked on the hill just after Splashmins Resort, the last hill on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway and no cyclist had the class to follow the duo who built up a huge gap. The peloton lost all purpose as the Johns displayed great strength to leave them behind in their dust.
The Johns then tailed each other, exchanging the lead, and Jamual showed why he was the better sprinter when he sprinted away from Briton near Rahaman’s for the finish, opening a three-second gap.

Overall standing
Briton had an overall time of six hours 56 minutes and 57 seconds while Jamual of Team Foundation had a time of 6:57:09. DeNobrega finished third with 7:01:56, Jeffrey in 7:02:17 and Christopher Griffith in 7:02:23.
Alexis Mendes was the top masters with a time of 7:02:20, which is sixth overall.
The female and junior segments of the race saw Linden’s Susan Hamilton emerging victorious while Berbicians Shenika Teixeira and Aneisha Crandon came in second and third respectively.

Twenty riders started in the final stage, which saw numerous cyclists abandon the race

The females rode the entire first stage, but the second stage commenced at the Mahaica Bridge and concluded at Carifesta Avenue. The junior competitors were only required to ride the first two stages. Berbice’s David Hicks won the second stage with ease ahead of first-stage winner Mario Washington and Aaron Newton. Ending up fourth overall was the 13-year-old Alex Leung.

Briton calls for more rewards
After his win, Briton said he was looking forward to winning the upcoming national championships as well. Talking through the third stage of the race, Briton said there were a lot of attacks but his team protected him. He told reporters that he saw an opportunity at Splashmins and Jamual was the lone follower.
The happy United We Stand rider said this was his second Three-Stage race, and his first as a senior. “I feel good and I am very thankful.”
Briton, who won the first stage from Corriverton to New Amsterdam, and finished fourth in the second stage from Rosignol to Georgetown, said the first-place prize of $70,000 was not good enough.

Raynauth “Obeah Man” Jeffrey won a close race against Paul DeNobrega for third place

“It’s not good, it’s bad sport, racing my heart out, three stages and you get junk change. You have a whole team that you have to divide the money between and that is not good enough, when you race your heart out,” Briton said.
The premier cycling event is organised by the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) with full sponsorship from the Government of Guyana though the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry . The National Covid-19 Task Force had given the green light.
The traffic ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) also played a significant role, despite some minor accidents on the opening day of the race. The next cycling event – the National Cycling Championships – is set for the following weekend.