Jebon Crawford rides away with 50 miles 50th Anniversary Independence Cycle race

May 09, 2016 Sports

Jebon Crawford was in winner’s row once again when he outsprinted Andre Hicks in a fierce battle to take top honours on Sunday when the Flying Ace Cycling Club of Berbice in collaboration with the Region Six Jubilee Committee held a 50 miles cycle race in celebrations of Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary.

Jebon Crawford receives his reward from female cyclist Marica Dick.

The event which was for cyclist from Berbice only saw the riders being sent on their way at 09:00hrs with the 12 riders making the start from No47 Stanleytown by Councilor Eusi Smith. The riders then proceeded to the Bush Lot Gas Station before turning back to finish at Main and Alexander Street New Amsterdam.
The five U16 riders were given a five minutes head start while the females were required to ride from The No1 Road Corentyne to the finishing line.
Taking advantage of the head start U16 rider Zaman Khan continued to show progress as he took a big lead. He was however caught in the Fyrish area by Crawford and Hicks who made an early break from the main bunch. The three cyclists rode together for a while before Khan was dropped.
After that it was Crawford and Hicks that dominated the proceeding as they continued to distance themselves from the rest of the field. They continued their battle in their effort to shake of the others, but to no avail. In the sprint home it was Crawford who got the better of Hicks to take top honours.
Brian Harris, who finished about five minutes behind, returned to competitive riding by taking third position, while the evergreen Syborne Fernandes copped fourth.
In the U16 category Ralph Rampersaud placed second ahead of Dalwin Bowman. Fernandez was the top rider among the veterans. Whitney Poyer won once again among the females.
The sprint point prizes were shared between Khan, who grabbed the first three, while Crawford took three and Hicks took two.
Khan, who started riding recently, has never lost a race in his category in Guyana and for that he was rewarded with cash and medal from a donor and club President John Lewis.
The event, which was organised by coach Randolph Roberts, was sponsored by a number of entities in Berbice including Payless Variety Store, Hand In Hand Insurance Company, Arokium Funeral Home and Pompey Chicken Enterprize among others.
Speaking at the ceremony organizer and coach of the FACC Randolph Roberts stated that apart from the event being held in celebration of Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary celebrations, the race was also used as a warm up for the Berbice cyclists who are preparing for the annual Independence Three stage cycle race which will be held shortly. (Samuel Whyte)