John dominates Payless Variety Store cycle event

Briton John made hay in the brilliant sunshine yesterday dominating the juvenile 10-lap and the feature 35-lap event of the seventh annual Payless Variety Store multi-race programme.

In perfect conditions for racing at the National Park, the 18-year-old won in 1:17.44s.

He led breakaway mate, Paul DeNobrega in a thrilling photo finish in the marquee event.

Junior Niles out-sprinted the remnants of the peloton to join the duo on the podium while Chris Griffith, Alex Mendes and Paul Choo-Wee-Nam completed the top six positions.

John and DeNobrega broke away from the field with 11 laps to go and never relinquished their advantage.

The pair watched each other closely all the way to the end and many thought DeNobrega, who won the Digicel Cancer Awareness Road race last week, would once again finish at the top of the podium.

Briton John (left) pipped Paul DeNobrega at the line in a thrilling two-man sprint finish yesterday at the National Park. (Orlando Charles photo)

But John, who finished second in the said event, turned the tables on the more seasoned campaigner.

As the two sprinted to the line, DeNobrega, the superior sprinter seemingly had the edge, but it was the tireless John who had enough left in the tank and earned his first signature win of his young, promising career at the mecca of local cycling.

Before winning the main race, the United Club standout bested Adelie Hodge and Sherwin Sampson in the juvenile 10-lap event.

Other winners yesterday included: Jose Rodrigues (BMX 6-9), Tavisto Persaud (BMX 9-12), Sherwin Sampson (12-14 Boys and Girls), Junior Niles (Veterans U-50), Linden Blackman (Veterans O-50) and Jamal Cappel (Mountain Bike).

The Payless Variety Store sponsored event was organized by Hassan Mohamed who will celebrate his 73rd birth anniversary today.