The tense political climate which prevailed in the aftermath of the general and regional elections has whittled the customary number of entrants for this year’s Independence Three-Stage cycle road race.
Scheduled to wheel off on Saturday, the 33rd edition of the longest tenured cycling event in Guyana has only attracted 30 registrants so far.
This is according to main organizer Hassan Mohamed who spoke with Stabroek Sport yesterday.
The calendar road race was originally scheduled for May 15-16 but had to be postponed since the country was at a standstill following the May 11 polls.
“It was unfortunate that we had to reschedule it” said Mohamed yesterday. “A lot of the foreign riders had already signaled their intentions to compete and were planning for that date, a lot of them had to apply for leave and so forth so rescheduling caused the drop in registrants but the safety of the riders is much more important.”
Nevertheless, Mohamed disclosed that he is “pleased with how things are going.” He added that “all systems are in place” for the two-day 171-mile road race.
In the first stage, riders usually start at the Corriverton Police Station and finish at New Amsterdam. (46.6 Miles) (75km).
The second stage starts the same day from Rosignol and will proceed to Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown for the finish. (60.4 Miles) (97.1km).
For the final stage, the event starts the day after in Kara Kara, Linden and concludes at Homestretch Avenue in Georgetown. (64.5 Miles) (103.3km).
Last year, Barbadian Darren Matthews won the overall trophy after completing the race in six hours, 53 minutes and 18 seconds.
A record 85 riders started the event. The 96 registrants were also a new record. (Emmerson Campbell)
