Charles wins Castrol Road Race on West Dem.

Jun 16, 2008 Sports

John Charles held off a bunch of three riders in a terrific sprint to the line to capture the 9th Annual Castrol GuyOil Road Race which was held on the West Demerara yesterday.

Approaching the final 200 metres, Charles, Albert Philander, Ian Jackson and Christopher Holder as they had done all race remained tightly bunched, before a sprint erupted for the finish line.

Charles showing his sprinting prowess edged Philander, Jackson and Holder in that order, to claim the top prize in a time of 1 hour 59 minutes and 24 seconds.

The race which started in front of Wales Police Station proceeded to Bushy Park, before returning to the Demerara Harbour Bridge for the finish saw 39 riders face the starter’s orders and very early Charles, Geron Williams, Holder, Jackson, Philander and Chris Persaud staged a breakaway and held their advantage over the main pack throughout the upward journey.

As the riders turned for home the same set of riders continued to maintain their lead and as they left Windsor Forest Williams suffered a puncture, while Persaud had dropped off the pace, leaving Charles, Philander, Holder and Jackson as the main contenders for the title barring any unforeseen incident.

Meanwhile, defending champion Junior Niles was struggling to keep pace with the pack and seemed incapable of making an impact in the race.

As the riders closed in on the finish line a cat and mouse game developed with no one eager to initiate the sprint, but in the end the stronger sprinter came through to win.

Williams finished fifth, while Persaud followed him closely to claim sixth.

In the Veterans category, Berbician Gary Benjamin performed a similar feat to that of Charles, out-sprinting his rivals to the line to win the race.

Virgil Jones ended second, while Kennard Lovell placed third.

The juniors’ division was won by Holder ahead of Williams and Persaud.