As cycling action continues, the country’s wheelsmen will be in action tomorrow and Sunday. The back-to-back races will pedal off with the Hassan Mohammed-organised 14th Laparkan Holdings 11-stage cycling programme.
The annual event is set for the traditional inner circuit of the National Park from 9:30am. Last year, We Stand United’s Andrew Hicks emerged the champion of the 35-lap feature school boys and invitational race in a time of one hour, 18 minutes and 30 seconds. Nigel Duguid (Juniors), Ozia McAulay (Mountain Bike), Jonathan Ramsuchit (12-14 Boys and Girls), John Niles (9-12 BMX), Marvin Knight (BMX 12-14) and Gerard Barrington (BMX 6-9) were the winners of their various categories.
This year, the feature 35-lap Invitational will see the nation’s premier wheelsmen like Paul DeNobrega, Curtis Dey, Romello Crawford, Christopher Griffith, Geron Williams, Alonzo Ambrose and seasoned veteran, Paul Choo-We-Nam battling for the spoils. Along with Hamzah Eastman, who is currently campaigning on the US circuit, the aforementioned have been this season’s best cyclists.
Junior Niles, Walter Grant-Stuart and Marlon ‘Fishy’ Williams could also be in the mix for a spot on the podium. With this year’s lineup, Hicks will be hard pressed to repeat his victory.
Other categories scheduled to be contested are the 12 to 14 years boys and girls (3 laps), veterans under-50 years (5 laps), veterans over-50 years (5 laps), veterans over-60 years (5 laps), juveniles (10 laps), mountain bike (5 laps), BMX boys open (3 laps), BMX boys 12 to 14 years (3 laps), BMX boys 9 to 12 years (3 laps) and BMX boys 6 to 9 years (3 laps).
Human Resource Manager of the sponsoring company, Linnet Shivrattan will be there along with other staff to witness the action and distribute prizes.
The riders will shift to road racing on Sunday for the 16th edition of the Victor Macedo Memorial Road Race. The race, which is organised by the Flying Stars Cycling Club, is sponsored by Macedo Transportation Services and Floyd Macedo.
Victor Macedo was a former cycling enthusiast who contributed immensely to the sport while his son, Floyd is a former champion cyclist on the local scene.
The race will see the riders having a rolling start at 224 Peter Rose Street, Queenstown from 7:30am and make their way to Mandela Avenue and on to the East Bank Highway before reaching the Linden/Soesdyke Highway.
The Veterans Over-45 and Mountain Bike riders will turn around at Yarrowkabra while the Open, Veterans Under-45 and Juniors will go up to School Junction, Long Creek.
All riders will return to Homestretch Avenue in front of the National Sports Commission for the finish.
