By Floyd Christie

After a top class performance in the first two stages and a strong finish in the final stage, Warren McKay was named overall winner of the National Sports Commission (NSC) Annual Three-Stage Cycle Road Race which ended yesterday on Homestretch Avenue.

With a second and first place finish in the bag giving him the overall lead after the first two stages, McKay found himself behind the leading pack in the third and final stage which began in Linden yesterday morning.

He subsequently managed to finish in good enough time to secure the overall win which allowed him to have the fastest time at the end of the three stages which he completed in seven hours, five minutes and 15 seconds.

Surinamese cyclist Murvin Arunjo was second overall, Geron Williams, third, and Raymond Newton, fourth.

The other front runners, who dominated the leading pack in the first two stages all trailed the leading bunch yesterday as the hills proved to be a difficult challenge for the stage one and two top finishers.

This time around, the leading position was controlled by Eric Sankar, who powered over the hills and around the final turn to comfortably take the third stage first place with a time of two hours, 44 minutes and 11 seconds. He was followed by Phillip Piggot and Walter Grant-Stewart who came in second and third respectively.

Apart from the winners, prizes were also presented to Stewart and Williams for being the top riders in the Open category while Newton and Paul DeNobrega were awarded prizes for being the leading Veteran and Junior Cyclist respectively.

Prior to the presentation ceremony after the race meet at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Minister of Culture Youth and Sports, Dr. Frank Anthony, and Director of Sports within the NSC Neil Kumar, briefly addressed the gathering and congratulated the successful participants.