With his arms held high above his head and pumping the air in Champion’s fashion, Guyanese Cyclist Briton John crossed two finish lines first on Saturday and shattered both records to boot, when the National Sports Commission’s (NSC) Independence 3-Stage cycling road race pedaled off with high anticipation in Berbice.
Stage One began at the Corriverton Police Station and ended in New Amsterdam, a course which took John 1 hour 44 minutes .05 seconds to complete, setting a new event record. On that occasion, the champion rider was being trailed closely by Enriques De Camarand of Trinidad and Tobago, who crossed the line just .36 seconds behind John for second place.
Then, in the second stage which took the Cyclists from the Western side of Berbice Bridge to Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown, John repeated his record- breaking feat, clocking a stunning 2 hours 22 minutes 5.95 seconds, to cross the line with none of his other Challengers in sight.
Female division winner Chyanne Awai approaches the finish line
In the first stage, De Camirnuan was able to come a close second as he trailed John closely, even after he broke away from the peloton on the ‘19 stretch’ in New Amsterdam.
Earlier in that race, after the youngsters set out on their own from Corriverton, their energy waned and by #63 Village, punctures and perhaps a lack of fitness saw a few cyclists, Masters, Juveniles and Juniors alike dropped from the peloton.
The experienced Christopher Griffith found himself a victim of those casualties, after encountering a cut chain. Though he fought back to catch up, Griffith was unable to make the top ten in the first stage.
Another look at the cycling action on Saturday
Cortis Dey of KFC Evolution, kept pace but still finished a distant third in the first stage while Paul De Nobrega, returning to the sport after a while showed good fitness levels to finish fourth with Robin Persaud (KFC Evolution) and last year’s winner, Phillip Clarke of Barbados, rounding out the top six.
In the Juniors category Alexander Leung assumed his usual place atop the podium with Sidwell Sandy trailing in his wake.
Trinidadian female cyclist Chyanne Awai took first place ahead of Surinamese Loffe Keikis and Guyana’s Abigail Jeffrey.
Later on in the afternoon, Surinamese Jorryn Simon pipped the Trinidadian to take second place in the Second stage, while the Twin Island Republic native had to settle for third.
Similarly to the first leg, Awai took top honors in the female category while Keikis and Jeffrey finished second and third in that order.
With the two record- breaking victories in his pocket, Briton John sits comfortably heading into today’s third and final stage, needing only a second- place finish to take top honours in the competition overall. The Cyclists will take the course from Linden to Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown as they close out the competition.
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