Add another ounce of Guyana’s world famous gold to Jamal John’s palmarès.
Last season’s most successful wheelsman showed once again yesterday why he is a force to be reckoned with on the local circuit by repeating as champion of the Kadir Mohamed ‘Ounce of Gold’ road race.
In the seventh edition of the grueling 80-mile trek which was staged from Homestretch Avenue to Dora and back, John, winner of six of the 10 sprint prizes, took the winning spoils in three hours and 15 minutes to successfully defend his title.
The tireless 21-year-old national rider bested his breakaway mates and fellow podium dwellers Andre Greene (two sprint prizes) and Brighton John in a thrilling three-man sprint finish.
At around mile 30, Greene and John attacked the peloton. Soon after, junior sensation, Brighton who had the two remaining sprint prizes joined the party and the strong trio teamed up to dominate the race until they reached the final turn. At this point, teamwork was thrown out the window when John rose from his saddle and changed gears.
With just enough gas left in the tank, the Team Coco’s standout went on to chalk up another pole finish of the 2018 season by about three bike length ahead of Greene who out sprinted John.
National Road Race champion, Curtis Dey got the better of the remnants of the peloton while Chris Griffith, Andrew Hicks, Rastaff O’Selmo, Jornell Yearwood, Ajay Gopilall and Michael Anthony filled out the top 10 rewarding positions.
In other results, Brighton John won the junior category ahead of Gopilall and Adelie Hodge respectively.
Other winners yesterday included Junior Niles (veteran under 45), Ian Jackson (veteran over 45) and Ozia McAulay (Mountain Bike). John will look to add another victory to his resume when the cycling season continues on Sunday with the Digicel Breast Cancer Awareness event. (Emmerson Campbell)
