“Cycling is one of the sports that can be used to help unite the country in the fight against the killer disease HIV/AIDS.”
So said Director of Sport, Neil Kumar, at the presentation ceremony for the winners of the inaugural ‘Tour de Guyana’ five-stage cycle road race organized by the National Sports Commission (NSC) in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Health to coincide with World AIDS day.
Addressing the gathering which included Minister responsible for Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, Dr Bheri Ramsarran (Minister within the Ministry of Health), former cyclist and president of the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) Hector Edwards, Dr Shanti Singh Director of NAPS and Hassan Mohammed M.S national cycling coach, Kumar highlighted how the race became a reality.
“Dr. Anthony informed us about the commission sponsoring the annual three-stage Independence cycle race for many a year and said he would love to see a five stage race organized. The Ministry of Health readily came on board and together made it a reality,” Kumar stated.
In his short speech, Dr Anthony praised the GCF for organizing such a marquee event that received such tremendous response from the public along the way.
“I must say that I am very pleased with the GCF for pulling off such a wonderful event of such a magnitude around the time of World AIDS day celebrations. Young people are aware of ideas towards changing their behavioral pattern, but not utilizing same when it comes to the HIV/AIDS disease, thus the invention of the ‘Ride For Life’ five stage cycling event,” Dr Anthony said.
He further stated, “I am pleased to inform those gathered here that a programme has been set up between the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) and the cyclists who will be trained to act as peer messengers in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Guyana and this event will be included in the calendar of events for the GCF next year.” Dr. Ramsarran also told the gathering how delighted he was to be a part of this historical event.
“The Ministry of Health was happy to join forces with the Ministry of Sport, NSC and the GCF in this event. We felt it was a vital decision to make in educating the nation about this deadly disease that is attacking our young people between the ages of 14-45. I am pleased to hear about so many young cyclists being a part of this event and must say congratulations to each and every one of you that were a part of same.”
Winner of the event, Alonzo Greaves, received the first prize of $200,000.00 and a trophy while the first and second runners-up Marlon Williams and Leer Nunes received trophies and $150,000.00 and $100,000.00 respectively.
The fourth to tenth place finishers received from $75,000.00 to $10,000.00. In the Junior and Veterans under-45 age categories, the first, second and third placed finishers received $25,000.00, $20,000.00 and $15,000.00 respectively, while the top three finishers in the over-45 Veterans category received $20,000.00, $15,000.00 and $10,000.00 each.
Sprint and village prizes that were up for grabs during the race were also presented to the various winners.
