Hamzah Eastman successfully defended his R&R international Limited road race title yesterday making it the first time in the 27 years of the race that a rider has won the events back-to-back.
The team Coco’s international rider, clocked one hour, 43 minutes and 14 seconds (01:43:14), powering through the blistering rain and a determined Paul Denobrega (Evolution) to snatch a close finish.
The win, in the race which started at Schoonord, East Bank Demerara saw the wheelsmen going to Bushy Park and back to complete a grueling 46-mile race.
As Eastman crossed the finish line to have his name sealed in history
The event was staged on the East Coast Demerara last year but was calculated to be the same distance.
Coincidentally, a significant amount of rain had been present last year.
It was down to Eastman and De Nobrega, whom he dethroned on Saturday in the 35-lap circuit race sponsored by the same company.
However, while yesterday’s race was only between the two Saturday’s race saw a four-way battle for top honours.
Speaking to the elated rider, the 21-year-old said he was proud to be a part of history and thanked the sponsors as well as organizer, National cycling coach, Hassan Mohammed for their dedication to the development of the sport and for providing constant races for the young athletes.
Eastman also stated that his wins were due to the hard work and training he had put in during his stint in the United States during the 2017 season.
We Stand United’s Deeraj Garbarran recorded his best finish of the season to finish third while Trojan’s Romello Crawford clocked fourth and Jamaul John (Cocos) and Christopher Griffith (Evolution) fifth and sixth respectively.Meanwhile, in the junior division, Adelie Hodge was successful while Briton John, who won the equivalent of the event in the National Park Saturday settled for second and Ajay Motilall third.
We Stand United’s Mario King notched up his first win of the season in the mountain bike category ahead of Shane Bourne while Junior Niles was dethroned as Warren “40” McKay was crowned the new champion in the veterans class.
