John takes Gold

Tenacity and quality are two words that come to mind almost instantaneously when describing Jamaul John’s victory at the sixth annual Kadir Mohamed Memorial road race on Sunday.
The lanky rider, who currently enjoys the top spot of the GCN Classification table, held off and outsprinted National Champion Raynauth “Obeah Man” Jeffrey to cross the finish line with a winning time of three hours, 13 minutes and 3.61s, claiming the winner’s prize of an ounce of raw gold.

John, along with Jeffrey, Geron Williams, Alanzo Ambrose, Paul DeNobrega and Shaquel Agard, established the peloton from the early stages; however, John and Jeffrey broke away in the latter stages of the return leg from the Linden/Soesdyke Highway.
This Team Coco rider was always a contender for the top spot, and he proved why when he sprinted away from Jeffrey in the final couple of hundred metres on Homestretch Avenue.
Finishing third, behind John and Jeffrey, was Orville Hinds; while fourth to eighth places went to Shaquel Agard, Geron Williams, Paul DeNobrega, Alanzo Ambrose and Christopher “Chicken Legs” Griffith in that order. The Sprint point prizes were shared among John (2), Griffith (2), Jeffrey (3) and Orville Hinds (3).
In the Junior category, Curtis “Chappy” Dey held off fierce competition from Nigel Duguid (second) and Christopher Cornelius (third) to claim first place, while Marcus Keiler finished fourth.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Ramsuchit won the Juveniles event in two hours, 30 minutes and 17.11s, ahead of second placed Ralph Seenarine and David Hicks who was third.
Jude Bentley took first place in the Mountain Bikers race when he finished the race in two hours, 33 minutes and 17 seconds, ahead of Seon Budhan and Julio Melville, who took second and third place respectively.
In the Veterans Over-45 category, Ian “Dumb Boy” Jackson prevailed over second and third place finishers, Oliver Younge and Kennard Lovell, in two hours, 28 minutes and 36 seconds; Junior Niles was the winner of the Under-45 veterans event.
John will be looking to defend his Digicel Breast Cancer Awareness Cycling title next weekend at the outer circuit of the National Park. (Michelangelo Jacobus)