-‘Ride for Life 2’ pedals off Thursday morning
The second annual Ministry of Health (MOH)/Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS)/ National AIDS Secretariat sponsored and organized Tour Guyana Cycle Race will pedal off on Thursday morning, with the first stage from Corriverton to New Amsterdam.
The one name that will be lingering on the minds of cyclists and cycling enthusiasts would be that of defending champion Alanzo Greaves.
Greaves completed the five stages of the inaugural race last year in a time of 11hrs:04:28 to claim the first place prize of $200,000 and a trophy, among other individual prizes won during the duration of the race which started at Corriverton and culminated on Homestretch Avenue two days later, with Marlon “Fishy” Williams occupying the runner-up position a mere four seconds adrift him.
Greaves won the second stage from Rosignol to Carifesta Avenue in a time of 2:35:53 and must count his lucky stars in pulling off the overall win last year, after John Charles who held a 2:04 lead on him going into the third stage suffered a punctured front wheel during that stage and the subsequent wheel change took more than the time he had on Greaves who had passed him en route.
Even though he did not win the stage, which Ian ‘Dumb Boy’ Jackson did in a time of 2:35:45 from Enzo Matthews, Greaves was able to regain the lead, with one second separating him from Williams, who himself had endured some bad luck in the second stage. But judging on his recent form on the cycling scene, all eyes will be on Greaves when the cyclists are given their marching orders at 07:30hrs Thursday morning in Corriverton. But he should not be expected to have things his own way this time around, as other stage winners including Warren ‘Forty’ Mc Kay (first stage), Robin Persaud (third stage) and Leer Nunes (fifth stage) are all expected to be in the saddle for this year’s event.
Other worthy competitors include the hard working Darren Allen who was in a good position in the second stage, before suffering cramps in both legs and had to withdraw, Jaikarran Sukhai, Williams, Jackson and the veterans Linden Blackman and Kennard Lovell.
The juniors will not be left out as there are prizes up for the first three finishers in this category and to this effect, defending junior champion Christopher Holder can expect some stern competition from riders of the calibre of national junior road race champion Neil Reece, Geron Williams, Christopher Persaud and Danny Ramchurgee.
The veterans under-50 champion in this race which is being held to increase HIV/AIDS awareness among participants and the general public is Blackman who staved off strong opposition from Jackson and Lovell respectively.
Compton Persaud has been dominating the veterans Over-50 category for a while and being the defending champion, there is no way he could not repeat unless Walter Isaacs and Monty Parris have other ideas in mind.
Irrespective of which way the tide turns, the one man all cyclists will be looking to beat for the $200,000 (US$1,000) first prize this time around in a race where the course is quite familiar, with the exception of the fourth stage, would be Alanzo Greaves.
