-in third leg of 12th Cheddi Jagan Memorial
Tactical riding from Robin Persaud enabled him to take the third and final leg of the 12th Annual Cheddi Jagan Memorial Cycle road race which covered a distance of 50 miles from Supenaam to Charity and back to Anna Regina for the finish yesterday.
Persaud completed the distance in a time of 2:16:36.25 seconds, to take the top position from his Carlton Wheelers Cycle Club (CWCC) teammate Tony Simon, whilst Christopher Persaud, Walter Grant-Stuart, Albert Philander and Marvin Alves rounded out the top six.
When the 15 riders were sent on their way at 0945hrs, they stayed together until 13 minutes into the race, when Simon went to the front at the entrance of the Fairfield Village Sawmill.
He was joined shortly after by Enzo Mathews and Robin and Christopher Persaud, before the peloton led by Albert Philander reconnected in the race which was scheduled to be held on the 29th March, but had to be rescheduled due to the passing of former president Janet Jagan, the wife of Dr Cheddi Jagan.
The peloton stayed together until Philander was taken off the pace as they approached the village of Suddie.
It then became a three-man race at Golden Fleece, with Christopher and Robin Persaud and Simon moving to the front. They increased a 50-metre lead to over three minutes on the peloton which included Grant- Stuart, Matthews and Alves.
Nothing changed at the turn back point, until Christopher Persaud who rides for Flying Stars Cycle Club and was caught between a rock and a hard place, competing for the top spot against the two CWCC riders. The pair worked in tandem, which resulted in Christopher Persaud being taken off the pace as they approached the village of Dartmouth on the return journey and never reconnected with the front two, whereupon Robin Persaud out-sprinted Simon for the first place.
Apart from his first place, Persaud also took five of the eight sprint prizes up for grabs, whilst Simon took two and Philander one.
Forty-four- year-old Kennard Lovell also out-sprinted his rival Linden Blackman to take the veteran category, with Virgil Jones placing third.
Anthony Fariah took the Over-60 age group category, whilst Garfield Lawrence, Dexter Wilson and Shawn Frank took the top three positions in the Upright division.
Regan Gibbons was the lone Junior competitor to complete the course, whilst Alonzo Fernandes and Cassandra Sulker were the first two male and female Essequibo finishers, with Naomi Singh the first female finisher overall.
Warren Mckay who is presently in the Twin Island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago along with Christopher Holder Jnr won the first two legs of this event which were held in Berbice and on the West Bank of Demerara on the 8th and 22nd March respectively.