– Overseas riders for next year’s event
By Emmerson Campbell
National cyclist Alonzo Greaves yesterday blitzed a star-studded field of riders to win the senior category of the Victor Macedo Memorial road race while this year’s Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships gold medalist, Michael Anthony, rode off with the junior title.
The 10th annual memorial race commenced and concluded on Homestretch Avenue yesterday morning and attracted the cream of Guyana’s top cyclists in four categories, seniors, females, veterans and juniors.
The seniors and juniors’ rode to Long Creek on the Linden Highway and returned (approximately 80 miles) while the females and veterans’ journeyed to the Linden/Soesdyke Highway junction and returned (approximately 50 miles).
Greaves stopped the clock at three hours, nine minutes and 31 seconds and was also the recipient of a prime prize.
Second placed finisher Rastaff O’Selmo copped three primes while 16 year-old Anthony, who won a gold medal last weekend in the juvenile category of the Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships in the Dominican Republic, finished third overall and also sped off with two primes.
Top veteran Raymond Newton finished fourth overall and pocketed five of the prime prizes. Davenand Bissoon copped the other sprint prize.
Junior star rider Raynauth Jeffrey, last year’s senior road race champion, Walter Grant Stuart, this year’s Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships gold medalist, Paul DeNobrega, Akeem Arthur, 15-year-old Raul Leal and national cyclist Enzo Matthews, rounded out the top 10.
The race, which was considered a warm up for next month’s sixth annual five-stage event, started off at a fair pace with the top four of Greaves, O’Selmo, Anthony and Newton taking it to the rest of the 28 starters from as early as Diamond on the upward journey.
The top four were relentlessly pursued by the peloton but they worked as a team to hold off the chasers and gradually increased their lead.
On the downward journey, the top four riders upped the ante and so did a pack of riders that included Jeffrey, Grant-Stuart, DeNobrega, Arthur and Leal.
The five riders in the chasing pack tried valiantly to catch Greaves, O’Selmo, Anthony and Newton and though they closed the gap they were unable to bridge the divide.
At Eccles, the top four were still riding as a unit and had opened up an unassailable lead by the time they reached Mandela Avenue.
At this point, team work went out the window and it was every man for himself as the finish line was only a few miles away. O’Selmo pounced and staged a one-man breakaway but he was pursued and eventually caught by Greaves after 200 metres.
Greaves and O’Selmo separated themselves from Newton and Anthony and journeyed together until 150 from the finish line where a fierce sprint ensued.
Greaves, however, seemed to find another gear and powered to victory to take the event.
In the female and under-14 category, Cravis Jeffrey sped off with the winner’s trophy ahead of Naomi Singh and Hazina Barrett. The two primes that were up for grabs however, went to Barrett.
Ian Jackson successfully defended his veterans’ title ahead of Ralph Williams who copped a prime prize and Kennard Lovell respectively. Talim Shaw and Virgil Jones also rode off with prime prizes.
At the conclusion of the event, prizes were shared out to the top finishers by members of the Macedo family. The organizers also mentioned that plans are in place for making next year’s staging a bigger and better event by inviting overseas cyclists to compete.
Last year’s senior winner was Albert Philander.
