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GCF National Championships 2017 – Senior Road Race…Raynauth Jeffrey seals historic win and double
– President Burrowes hails event a success
GCF President Horace Burrowes and Secretary Maria Leung pictured with the respective category winners of the 2017 National Championships following the prize giving ceremony yesterday.
By Franklin Wilson
Raynauth ‘Obeah Man’ Jeffrey inked his name in the history books of Guyana with a commanding win in the longest Road Race championship ever held here yesterday when he won the Senior segment of the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) marquee event.
A member of Team Pharmaco-Deep South of the USA and Trinidad and Tobago, Jeffrey, after winning the Time Trials two Saturday’s ago took yesterday’s 103-mile long road race, pedaling home all alone in Three Hours 59 Minutes 37 Seconds (3:59:37).
In a sprint home for the other top four positions, Paul De Nobrega held off Hamza Eastman who was followed by dethroned champion Geron Williams and Orville Hinds; the quartet was timed at 4:00:16.
A total of 49 cyclists commenced the race which included a number of junior and veterans, while only 15 completed the distance underlining the grueling nature of the contest. Some of the riders suffered mechanical problems, while in eth case of Lear Nunes, he fell and damaged his right knee which put paid to his ambitions of completing the course.
Jeffrey, speaking with the media following his triumph, the second time in his career that he has captured the double following a similar achievement in 2013, said he was at one point hurt but challenged himself to keep the focus against top opposition.
He shared that the likes of Geron Williams, Jamal John, Orville Hinds, Michael Anthony and De Nobrega are all in good condition and he had to ride smart whilst keeping them in close range in order to succeed, noting that it was more strategic riding off the front rather than the back.
“Coming back I was hurt and the last 20 miles I went on the break by myself and I just down my head and kept going and never looked back. Coming on the back road I talked to myself, said this is my race and just went a bit more hard and held the guys off.”
Whilst noting that he did not do such a long ride for the year, Jeffrey mentioned that riding among pros in the USA contributed in a major way to his success.
“From that I gained some experience and I learned that how to ride better in a field and tried to conserve as much as I could.”
Following the conclusion of the race, GCF President and Secretary, Horace Burrowes and Maria Leung assisted in handing out the medals and championship jerseys to the respective winners of the Time Trials and Road Races.
Championship jersey’s were presented to Jeffery for winning the Time Trials and Road Race, Claire Fraser-Green who also captured the Time Trials and Road Race, Lear Nunes for winning the Time Trials (Veterans), Briton John (Junior Road Race) and Junior Niles who captured the Under-45 category in the Road Race.
The top five finishers in the senior segment of the Road Race received medals whilst gold silver and bronze medals were also presented to the top three in the nine (9) other categories.
GCF President Burrowes in an invited comment after the race posited that the championships was the best ever held in its history, pointing out that a number of technical adjustments were made, geared towards the further up-lifting of the sport. “This championship is a major success for the GCF, major success.”
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