By Lloyd Conway
US-based former national cyclist Aubrey Gordon was in the spotlight recently when he ascended the podium twice after riding in the US National Masters Road Championships in Louisville, Kentucky last month.
Gordon also placed in the criterium event.
Gordon, who represented Guyana at the 1980, 1984, and 1988 Olympics, placed third in the US National Masters Road Race on July 2. Then, a few days later on July 6, he returned to the podium in the top spot after winning the criterium event.
The winner of the road race was Wayne Simon with Robert Anderson second while Gordon, who won the criterium, finished ahead of Lee Masters, Henry Schnepf, Arthur Brown and Gary Palmer in successive order.
According to his coach/manager, Victor A. Rutherford Snr., a local cycling star before migrating to the US, Gordon is in training for the Nationals Track Championships which will be held in San Jose, California over the Labour Day weekend, August 28 to September 3.
And, following that Gordon is expected to compete again at the World Masters in Australia in September.
Last year he had a creditable fourth-place performance in a field of 19 riders in the 50-54 15km Points Race final at the UCI Masters World Track Championships at the Dunc Gray Velodrome in Sydney, Australia, proving that he is still a significant competitor in world-class competition.
Rutherford explained in an interview with Stabroek Sport that the Points Race is a variation of the mass start race in which points are awarded to the top placing riders in a series of sprints contested at various intervals during the race. The winner of the Points Race is not necessarily the first to cross the finish line, but rather the rider who has accumulated the most points during the race.
Rutherford added that Gordon “always represents Guyana when he is racing internationally.”
