By Emmerson Campbell
Some team sports include basketball, cricket, rugby, football and cycling, yes – road race cycling.
Cycle road racing is not being pursued as a team sport in Guyana as of late and that is the reason for the abysmal performances of the local cyclists over the last two years in the annual three-stage and five- stage events.
The latest evidence that team racing is the key to success in road races was supplied last weekend when Miami-based cycling Team CoCo’s occupied five of the top six overall positions in the 30th annual three- stage event.
The winner was Ivan Dominguez, his two teammates Leonardo Martinez and Frank Travieoso placed second and third respectively overall. Dominguez’s other teammates Darren Matthews and David Cueli Santos rode in fifth and sixth respectively overall.
Only Jamaican Marlo Rodman (4th place overall) from Team Heat Wave prevented CoCo’s from a clean sweep of the top six positions. The first Guyanese rider was 17-year old Raynauth Jeffrey who placed seventh overall
That should highlight the fact that team racing works and that Guyanese riders need to get onboard.
Furthermore a Team CoCo’s rider also won each of the stages with the first one going to Travieoso, the second to Santos and the third to Dominguez.
Last year’s overall winner was Yosmani, Pol also of Team CoCo’s.
During an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport last week Santos spoke about team racing and its successes.
The 18-year-old stated that there are certain basic principles of team racing.
Said Santos: “The first step to riding as a team is finding your strongest rider and working for him, you have to put it all on the line and trust in him to get the job done.”
In road races, there are riders known traditionally as domestiques (French for ‘servant’) who will sacrifice individual performance to help a designated teammate. Santos said further: “When you ride as a team you win the race and you get your name out there, as long as the team wins everyone wins. If one of the local riders wins, it wouldn’t be a victory just for them but it would be a victory for their team and the country (Guyana), you are getting the team’s name out there and eventually the guys that are working will get their chances to win somewhere else if they all ride together – if one guy wins and he is from Guyana then the country wins as does that rider,” Santos emphasized.
Strong riders in Guyana
Santos who has been riding for CoCo’s since he was 15- years-old stated that there are very strong riders in Guyana, but their success is only guaranteed if they race as a team.
“They are very strong riders they just need to ride as a team, I don’t know their names but a lot of them impressed me – I just don’t know their names,” said Santos.
The 18-year-old said that CoCo’s would train six days per week and the key to developing is spending long hours in the saddle. He also stated that the team does not have a strict diet but their pre-race meal consists of a lot of carbohydrates.
“We eat pretty much anything, we have no strict diet that we follow, but we eat a lot of pasta before our races, a lot of carbohydrates, but that’s it. The pasta gives you a lot of energy but as for training, we ride for like four to six hours a day doing various things, just spending time on the bike helps a lot,” Santos said.
Santos, who said that his ultimate goal is to compete in the Tour de France, also had a word of advice for young Jeffrey and other riders who would like to take their talents to the next level.
“Most definitely race outside of Guyana, that is the first thing, get some international races and in his (Jeffrey) case try to get to Pan American Games or any other races that will give him the exposure to get to the next level.”
The next signature road race is the sixth annual five-stage event which pedals off the first week in October. Will the Guyana Cycling Federation and the local riders take a page out of Team CoCo’s book and organize a team or will the foreign dominance of the local road races continue? The answer will be known in five months.
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