With the 33rd Independence Three-Stage road race around the corner, Team Evolution decided to put on a dress rehearsal of team riding yesterday at the National Park.
Cyclists from the newly formed racing team, occupied five of the six rewarding positions in the feature 35-lap event of the fifth annual Powerade criterium programme with Michael Anthony taking the top podium spot.
Team Coco’s Junior Niles second place finish prevented a clean sweep but the day belonged to Team Evolution, so did the primes.
Anthony who won the event in a scorching one hour, 15 minutes and three seconds, pocketed five of the eight primes with the remainder going to his club mate and third place finisher, Marlon Williams.
Anthony’s other club mates Raul Leal, Orville Hinds and Akeem Wilkinson placed fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
Hinds and Williams broke away from the 40-strong peloton in the second lap. The two wheelsmen clad in their crisp black and white kits were joined by Niles three laps later. In the seventh lap however Hinds dropped back to the pack leaving Williams and Niles up front. Anthony connected with the leaders in lap nine and the trio managed to stave off the peloton throughout the course of the event by riding in tandem.
With three laps to go however, Anthony attacked his two break away mates and transformed into time trial mode. His teammate Williams and Niles stayed on their saddles content to settle for silver or bronze as they allowed Anthony to increase his lead with every powerful turn of his pedals.
With Anthony soloing to an unchallenged victory, the theatrics came with the battle for second place.
Williams, the supposed superior sprinter, rolled up the sprint with about 150 metres from the line. Niles quickly responded and blew by Williams on the final turn to take the silver by about three bike lengths.
At the presentation ceremony, the standout performers were presented with their trophies and other incentives by representatives of Banks DIH Limited.
The programme’s, organizer, Hassan Mohamed, congratulated the competitors for making the fixture a success. He was also in praises of the sponsors for supporting the programme for the past five seasons.
Note: The two-day, three-stage calendar event is schedule to pedal off on May 15.
Other winners yesterday included:
Other winners yesterday included: Daniel Perrieira (12-14 Boys and Girls)
Junior Niles (Veteran under 50)
Linden Blackman (Veteran over 50)
Wilfred Thom (Veteran over 60)
Jamal John (Juveniles)
Raynauth Jeffrey (Mountain Bike)
Jonathan Jagdeo (BMX 9-12)
Jonathan Jagdeo (BMX 12-14)
Alex Leung (BMX 6-9)
