Team KFC Evolution’s Curtis Dey seized his chance to shine and grab the feature Open second annual Randolph `Duckie’ Singh Memorial road race yesterday.
Staged along the Vlissengen Road/Irving Street circuit just outside of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Headquarters, Dey bided his time in the peloton before doing the hard work down the homestretch of the 18-lap Open race to cross the finish line and capture the coveted trophy at stake.
Defending champion, Jamual John of Kaieteur Attack along with rival Briton John of United We Stand got caught up in an intense battle of tactics and both ended up finishing outside of the top six places.
Dey was followed home by Trinidadians Liam Trepte and Enriques De Cameron in that order while USA’s Brian Meusa came in fourth with Robin Persaud finishing fifth and Adam Alexander out of T&T rounding out the top six.
Of the eight ‘primes’ up for grabs, youngster Alexander Leung took two while De Cameron snared one with the latter’s teammate Trepte accounting for five ‘primes.
There was a special ‘prime’ put up in the heat of the battle which went to Meusa.
Earlier, World Masters Sprint Champion, James Joseph rolled back the years to cross the line and win the five-lap Veterans Over-50 event in a time of 13 minutes 0.49 seconds ahead of Junior Niles and Nigel London who were second and third respectively.
Then in what can be described as a warm-up before the Open race, the Johns Briton and Jamual, gave the sizable gathering of spectators a glimpse of their potential by taking first and second place in the seniors eight-lap sprint event.
Briton and Jamual were always in the peloton and played a cat-and-mouse game of attacks during the final three laps; however Briton seized an opening as Jamual was preoccupied with holding off De Cameron and made a breakaway at the end of the penultimate lap. From there, it was no catching Briton as he crossed the finish line unchallenged, stopping the clock at 14 minutes 52.79 seconds. Meanwhile, in an exciting sprint for second place, Jamual powered home ahead of De Cameron to make it a one-two for the local lads.
In the Veterans O-40 event, Robin Persaud captured first place ahead of Seagun Hubbard and Ian Jackson in that order.
On the distaff side, Lindener Abigail Jeffrey showed her prowess by outgunning Simone Sandy to clinch the five-lap women’s race.
Alexander Leung lost out to Aaron Newton in the one-lap Juniors’ shootout while Aaron’s brother, Alex took the top podium spot in the Juveniles’ five-lap race.
He was followed by Sidwell Sandy and Daniel Tsaing respectively.
Cycling fans will now head across to the Bandstand at the Kingston Seawall today as the Kaieteur Attack Racing Cycling Club (KARCC) hosts their ‘Fireworks 2: The Pink Edition’. The defending champion of that event is Jamual John who promises a different performance this time around.
