-after drone, camera footage replayed
A photo finish in the senior 15-lap race of the ‘Endurance Circuit’ saw Briton John finish ahead of Romello Crawford by a matter of inches.
On a steaming, hot day on the outer circuit of the National Park, the two star cyclists put on an entertaining duel and went saddle to saddle from the smoke of the gun to the very end.
Replays of camera and drone footage had to be summoned to separate the tireless wheelsmen with John narrowly taking the wire-to-wire win in 1h:30m.57s.
10-lap race. (Emmerson Campbell photo)
For his heroics, the United We Stand cyclist cashed in the $125,000 first prize and winner’s trophy while Crawford pocketed the second place award worth $90,000.
Curtis Dey joined the duo on the podium and rode off with the third place spoils of $60,000 in the lucrative event which attracted the cream of the nation’s riders.
The top three riders had put distance between themselves and the peloton with three laps to go and never let off the throttle.
John, knowing that Crawford possesses superior sprinting prowess, tried a series of fiery attacks but they were quickly extinguished by Crawford and Dey.
The trend continued all the way until the final 150m as John who had earlier won all three prime prizes, seemingly still had the freshest legs on the circuit. He gritted his teeth, changed gears and rose from his saddle and barreled to the line. In a domino effect so did John and Crawford.
With the finish line in sight, John was poised for a commanding victory but Crawford seemed to find another gear and the riders were unsurprisingly wheel to wheel at the line with Crawford celebrating, thinking he had come from behind to snag the improbable win. However the lenses of the cameras proved that John was the victor by mere inches.
Earlier in the day of the Embellisha and Touche’ Cosmetics-sponsored event, Robin Persaud rode a tactical race and outfoxed Marlon ‘Fishy’ Williams and Kwame Ridley to win the Veteran’s Under 50, 10-lap race.
Other winners yesterday included Clavecia Spencer (female), Aaron Newton (junior), Talim Shaw (veteran over 50) and Ajani Cutting (juveniles).
Except for the juniors and juveniles, the winners in each of the above categories pocketed at least six figures in cash in the most lucrative local cycling fixture in recent memory. The riders gladly made hay in the brilliant sunshine.
