All eyes on Griffith; Griffith eyes successful title defence

 Flackback! Christopher Griffith receives his prize from the wife of the late Urban Benjamin.
Flackback! Christopher Griffith receives his prize from the wife of the late Urban Benjamin.

The crème de la crème of Guyana’s cyclists will take to the Essequibo Coast for the third annual Urban Benjamin Memorial with riders battling in a grueling 72-mile road race today.

The Evolution cycling club-organised race, which begins from 09.00 hours will see the riders taking to the starting line in front of the Charity Primary School before heading east to the Supenaam Stelling where they will complete 37 miles and turn around to head back to the starting line in pursuit of the checkered flag.

All eyes will be on Team Evolution’s Christopher “Chicken Legs” Griffith who will be looking to defend his title which he secured seven seconds short of three hours while his teammate and former winner, Paul De Nobrega will want to add the accolade to his long list of titles.

While both riders have not had the best of runs so far this year, the likes of Alonzo Ambrose, Jamaul John, Briton John, Andrew Hicks, Deeraj Garbaran, Romello Crawford, Para-Olympic cyclist, Walter Grant-Stuart, Marcus Keilier, Curtis Dey, Andre Greene, Akeem Wilkinson, Jornel Yearwood and company will also be vying for supremacy.

Also, experience will play a factor in the race as the veterans could upset the seniors especially with Horace Burrowes, defending champion, Warren “40” McKay, Junior Niles, Andrew Spencer, Ian Jackson and Jaikaran Sukhai all geared up and ready.

Fresh off the Junior Caribbean Championships, Ajay Gopilall, David Hicks, Ralph Seenarine, Mario Washington and Jonathan Ramsuchit will be pulling out all the stops to take the crown in the younger age group category. Entrance fee is set at $2000 per rider.