By Romario Samaroo
Team Coco’s Jamaul John has again emerged victorious in a nail-biting finish to snatch victory in the 7th Banks DIH-sponsored Powerade Road Race on Sunday.
Held on the West side, the race began slightly after the scheduled time of 08:00h on the roadway in front of the Wales Police Station, West Bank Demerara, and 48 wheelers took to the starting line on a journey that saw them heading to Parika and back to Schoonord to finish.
John, who won his second race of the year on this route, enjoyed the spoils of a close victory that saw him edging Team Evoution’s Paul DeNobrega to take the title in a time of one hour, 57 minutes and 16 seconds (01:57:16). The duo was followed by Akeem Wilkinson of Evolution and Team Alanis’s Alanzo Ambrose in third and fourth respectively, while the Berbice pair of Jason Cameron and Romello Crawford completed the top six of the senior category in that order. This had been the breakaway pack that began the sprint from about 500 metres from the finishing line.
After winning the race, John spoke with Guyana Times Sport and related that he was not feeling well despite coming out with the victory. He attributed this victory to good luck, pointing out that he was suffering from a “wind pain in my side.”
John and his club mate Hamza Eastman both received two prime prizes, while We Stand United’s Andrew Hicks, Crawford, De Nobrega and Christopher Griffith received one each.
By virtue of Cameron’s overall placing, he was awarded the winner of the junior category, while Christopher Cornelius and Curtis Dey finished in that category in second and third position respectively.
What has become the expected of recent times, Coco’s veteran rider Junior Niles again dominated the competition in a time of 01h:20min:50sec to take first place in that division, with a challenge coming from Leer Nunes who trailed closely for second position, as Ralph Williams took the third spot.
In the Mountain Bike category, Keon Thomas repeated his winning performance of last year, racing to the finish line well ahead of the competition; while Shane Bourne copped second and Ozia McAulay secured third.
Deance Welch was the lone female rider in this competition.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, National Cycling Coach and organizer of the event, Hassan Mohammed, noted that the event was accident-free, and extended gratitude to Powerade for their efforts in the development of the sport as well as for providing refreshments for the riders at the end of the race.
Representing the sponsors, Marissa Moonsammy congratulated the riders for a spectacular showing of fitness and clean competition, and recommitted the efforts of the company to continue supporting the development of cycling in the country.
