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Nov 06, 2009 Sports
Rodman & Persaud take stage 1 & 2, Geron Williams in overall lead
Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy speaking with riders prior to the start of the 3rd Ride for Life 5 stage race
By Franklin Wilson
As suspected, the 3rd Annual Ride for Life Five-Stage Cycle Road Race sponsored by the Ministry of Health and organised by the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport in association with the Guyana Cycling Federation, saw the records for stages one and two been shattered when the event pedaled off yesterday at Springlands on the Corentyne.
Jamaican Marloe Rodman rode a beautiful first stage, outsprinting young Guyanese star Geron Williams to the line in one hour 40 minutes 31 seconds shaving just over 9 seconds off last year’s winning time in the 46.6 miles (75KM) battle. Greaves was also credited with the same time but when the bonus seconds were added, the times were changed slightly. Seconds of 10, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1were credited to the top six finishers.
Stage two; another grueling stage produced another record as Robin Persaud capitalized on a cramping Alonzo Greaves to edge him out to the line in 2 hours 23 minutes 23 seconds which was better than last year’s time of 2 hours 32 minutes 05 seconds in the 60.4 miles (96KM) duel.
The first stage started on time at 07:30hrs with the riders sent on their way by Parliamentarian Bijilie Motie after receiving a brief motivational talk from Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.
Veteran rider Linden Blackman quickly stormed to the front of the pack as it was his intention to set a blistering pace from the start. He achieved his objective as the other 65 starter’s pursued their man. Soon after, Rodman, Williams, Barbadian Simon Clarke, Raymond Newton, Tony Simon and Andrew Spencer of Linden established themselves as the front pack from Number 66 Village right on through to the famous Number 19 road, the longest straight road in Guyana.
This group interchanged as they progressed along the route pounding out a lengthy lead all along. Defending Champion Junior Niles’ bid to successfully defend his title suffered a severe setback when Walter Grant Stuart ran into his back wheel, damaging his derailleur in the process. Since it was a mechanical accident, Niles was still allowed to continue in the race and was given the last man’s time of 1:54.57.
It was also reported that Robin Persaud also fell during the course of the first stage but quickly got up and resumed.
Rodman and Williams decided that they had enough of the leading pack when they entered the Number 19 road and the two broke away leaving the others in their wake as they were never caught. Spencer was not that lucky as the back pack connected and he was dropped on the Canje Bridge, Eric Sankar stepping it up to finish in the top six.
Clarke, Newton and Simon’s time for this stage was 1 hour 41 minutes 03 seconds while Sankar was 12 seconds back.
A total of 23 riders finished with the bunch time of 1:41.15 including Jude Bentley, Dwayne Gibbs, Godfrey Pollydore, Warren Mc Kay, Alonzo Greaves, Daniel Ramchurejee, Neil Reece, John Charles, Christopher Holder and Persaud.
Clarke took three of the six prime prizes on offer with Rodman copping two and Newton one.
The second stage as expected saw the course record being smashed. The blistering sun did not in no way deter the men on wheels from digging deep into their tanks.
Niles, Chris Persaud, Lear Nunes and Berbician Rohan Persaud quickly established themselves as the front pack up until Excellence village when Rohan Persaud was dropped from the lead pack. Connecting with the leaders at Lichfield Village were Christopher Holder, Robin Persaud and Warren Mc Kay.
Group members worked in unison as they established about a 5 minute lead on the second pack but just before Half Way Tree (Perseverance) Robin Persaud started to experienced problems with cramps as the second bunch connected.
At Bath, Mc Kay decided to go it on his own and was later joined by a revived Robin Persaud and the determined Alonzo Greaves at Fairfield Mahaica. The trio worked their way into a commanding lead but Mc Kay, who complained of not feeling too well even before the start of the race, was let behind at Strathspey.
Persaud and Greaves never looked back as Persaud took the stage ahead of Greaves who had won last year. The two ended with the same time of 2 hours 23 minutes 23 seconds.
Geron Williams rode well to claim the number 3 spot ahead of Dwayne ‘Road Hog’ Gibbs who also received the same time as Greaves of 2 hours 24 minutes 11 seconds. Marloe Rodman and Horace Burrowes were 5th and 6th respectively in 2 hours 24 minutes 35 seconds.
The same time was credited to Charles, Pollydore, Raj Persaud, Gary Benjamin, Simon, Newton, Mario Forde, Holder, Ramchurejee, Jaikarran Sukhai and Clarke. Mc Kay ended with two of the six primes with one apiece to Niles, Chris Persaud, Glen Campbell and Holder.
Leading overall is Geron Williams with Jamaican Marloe Rodman second.
The third stage of the race is set for 9:am today. Riders will pedal off from Wales, journey to Bushy Park and back to the Harbour Bridge for the finish.
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