A wrench has been thrown into the spokes of Guyana’s flagship cycling event, the Three-Stage Independence Road Race.
The longest tenured stage race may be cancelled this year since the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) and the traditional sponsors, the National Sports Commission (NSC) have not found common ground on the funding of the three-decade-old fixture.
The following statement was released yesterday by the NSC after this publication questioned why the race was not staged when the calendar flipped to May.
“In 2016, the National Sports Commission met with the Guyana Cycling Federation and indicated that it will not sole fund the request made for the three-stage cycle race and as such preparations should be made by the Cycling Federation to seek sponsorship in order to successfully host the event.
“In 2017, the Guyana Cycling Federation again wrote the NSC requesting full sponsorship of the annual three-stage race, the NSC met again with the GCF and reiterated its position. The NSC inquired if the GCF approached the Guyana Olympic Association for funding noting that cycling is an Olympic sport to which the response was that the GCF did not approach the GOA. The NSC also inquired what corporate entities will be collaborating with the GCF to which it was reported that no corporate entity was approached to provide sponsorship for the event. Finally, the NSC inquired as to the financial status of the GCF and what monies the federation was prepared to input to the realization of the event the response was zero dollars.
“Following the meeting, the Request Committee of the NSC determined that unfortunately, the National Sports Commission was unable to support the event.
“The National Sports Commission has since requested the Guyana Cycling Federation to begin its preparations for the annual five-stage race and is awaiting an update on the process and corporate or other support to realize the event,” the release stated.
Calls to Secretary of the GCF, Maria Leung for a reaction proved futile.
