Well, that did not take long.
After spending almost all of the year on the US racing circuit, star cyclist Jamual John returned to Guyana with a bang, winning his first event in his first start on local soil for the 2019 season.
John, outfitted in a crisp black and neon green Team Coco’s kit, used his trademark sprinting ability to secure the victory in the feature 35-lap event of the second annual Rainforest Water multi race programme which was staged yesterday at the National Park.
John, who dominated the local circuit for most of last year and 2017, stopped the clock in one hours, 22 minutes and 35 seconds for the grueling fixture which attracted the cream of the nation’s wheelsmen.
In a fierce four-man sprint, he led breakaway mates Michael Anthony, Paul DeNobrega and Adelie Hodge across the line.
Paul Choo-We-Nam out sprinted the remnants of the peloton to finish fifth. His Team Alanis club mate, Kemuel Moses finished close behind to round out the top six positions.
The top four riders separated from the 20-man peloton in lap two and never took their hands off the throttle. They rode in tandem at a high pace and eventually went on to lap most of the starters. Team work however was thrown out the window with about 250m to go.
DeNobrega rolled up the sprint, Anthony and John followed. Anthony briefly had the lead with about 50m to go. However, John who represented the nation recently in Mexico at the Pan Am Road Championships (U-23) used his superior speed to blow by the standout wheelsman from Linden.
Other prize winners yesterday included: David Hicks (Juveniles), Kennard Lovell (Veteran’s O-50), Nigel London (Veteran’s U-50) and Sherwin Sampson (BMX Boys and Girls 12-14).
