LFS Burnham 91st Birth Anniversary 92-mile 2-Stage Cycle Road Race…Team Coco’s Raynauth Jeffrey is overall winner; Geron Williams & Junior Niles take stages

Feb 24, 2014 Sports

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By Franklin Wilson
Team Coco’s underlined their dominance as a rising force in the local cycling arena when they pedaled away with the lion’s share of prizes when the Burnham Foundation in association with the Guyana Cycling Federation ran off a successful 92 miles two-stage road race yesterday to commemorate the 91st birth anniversary of former Executive President of Guyana, Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham.

On a day blessed with excellent sunshine, it was the Team Coco’s unit that shone brightest, taking the top two spots overall were Raynauth ‘Obeah Man’ Jeffrey and top junior Michael Anthony; apart from taking the veteran top spot, the unstoppable Junior Niles also represented.
Jeffery despite not winning any of the two stages placed third in both stages thus his overall time being better than his rivals.
The first stage was from Cara Cara in the Bauxite Mining Town of Linden to Carifesta Avenue in the city, while the second stage saw competitors pedaling from Ocean View International Hotel to Belfield and back.
The Linden to the City stage not by any means a runaway for any of the 39 riders that faced starter’s orders.
A few attempts were made on the Linden Soesdyke Highway by some riders to break away but that was not allowed as the pack kept together for most of the journey. However at Yarrowkabra a few riders eased away from the main bunch but they were hauled back in around Kuru Kuru approaching the junction at Timehri.
The trend continued on the East Bank of Demerara and just after they passed Diamond, Geron Williams, Alonzo Greaves and Raynauth Jeffrey broke away and were never caught.
Geron Williams won the sprint home to win the first stage from Alonzo Greaves and Raynauth Jeffrey in Two hours 50 Minutes 08 Seconds.
Michael Anthony (Team Coco’s) was the first junior to cross the line, clocking Two Hours 50 Minutes 08 Seconds. Shaquille Agard was next in 2hr 55mins 12secs followed by Stephano Husbands (2hr 53mins 15ses).
Junior Niles (Team Coco’s) was the first veteran to finish, he registered a time of 2hr 52mins 50secs. Raymond Newton (Roraima Bikers Club) was timed at 2hr 53mins 12secs, while Ian Jackson crossed in 2hr 59min 21secs.
Thirty-one riders lined up for the second stage and as predicted it was going to be a hot contest given the short distance. On the upward journey there was an eight man break away involving Jeffrey, Hamza Eastman, Shaquille Agard, Niles, Raymond Newton, Godfrey Pollydore, Michael Anthony and Alanzo Ambrose.
It was virtually the end of the contest as the chasing pack was never able to connect. Junior Niles romped to another convincing win as he crossed the line in One Hour 02 Minutes 40 Seconds followed by Godfrey Pollydore and Raynauth Jeffrey who both clocked the same time.
Alanzo Ambrose won the stage among his junior peers with Shaquille Agard and Michael Anthony following in that order. Niles was again the top veteran with Newton again second best, Talim Shaw placed third.
This year’s race marks the 5th year that the Burnham Foundation has been sponsoring the event and they have pledged to continue bringing off the race since the late LFS Burnham was an avid supporter of sports and its development.
Chairman of the Burnham Foundation Vincent Alexander said that this year’s event was sponsored to the tune of $200,000. He noted that the foundation was very happy to keep the race alive and was happy with the turn out and the level of discipline of the riders.
A number of other activities have been held to commemorate Burnham’s 91st birth anniversary including a Church Service, Annual Conference and Symposium. A grand concert is set for Sunday March 2 at the Theatre Guild Playhouse, Kingston.
Following are the full results of Stages 1 and 2 and the Overall Placing in the senior, junior and veteran categories.
STAGE 1
Senior                   Time            Junior                    Time      
Geron Williams        2h 50m 08s    Michael Anthony        2h 50m 08s
Alanzo Greaves        2h 50m 08s    Shaquille Agard            2h 51m 56s
Raynauth Jeffrey    2h 50m 08s    Stephano Husbands    2h 53m 15s
Veteran                 Time
Junior Niles                 2h 52m 50s
Raymond Newton    2h 53m 12s
Ian Jackson                 2h 59m 21s
STAGE 2
Senior                     Time            Junior                  Veteran    
Junior Niles                  1h 02m 02s    Alanzo Ambrose       Junior Niles
Godfrey Pollydore    1h 02m 40s    Shaquille Agard        Raymond Newton
Raynauth Jeffrey       1h 02m 40s    Michael Anthony    Talim Shaw
OVERALL
Senior                     Time           Junior                   Veteran
Raynauth Jeffrey       3h 52m 43s    Michael Anthony     Junior Niles
Michael Anthony       3h 53m 30s    Shaquille Agard        Raymond Newton
Hamza Eastman          3h 54m 33s    Alanzo Ambrose      Talim Shaw
Shaquille Agard           3h 45m 35s
Junior Niles                  3h 55m 23s
Godfrey Pollydore    3h 55m 55s

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