8th MCYS Ride for Life 5-Stage Cycle Road Race…Veteran Robin Persaud outfoxes younger riders to win final stage and overall

Oct 20, 2014 Sports

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Anthony is top junior

By Franklin Wilson
It was a master-class performance coming from a master who drew on his vast experience to outfox his younger rivals which resulted in Robin Persaud of Carlton Wheelers Cycle Club emerging out of the shadows to win the 5th and final stage which propelled him to the and overall prize in the 8th annual Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport (MCYS) Ride for Life 5-stage cycle road race yesterday.

Persaud, who went into the final stage 10 seconds adrift of the leader Alanzo Greaves rode a smart race to cancel out that deficit with the 10-seconds bonus he received as well as the vital seconds he racked up on his pursuers to the line.
His winning time for the 5th stage from Kara Kara, Linden to Carifesta Avenue in the City was 2 Hours 47 Minutes 04 Seconds. He crossed the line well ahead of Paul De Nobrega, Marlon Williams, Scott Savory, Andre Green and Geron Williams in that order.
Greaves and Geron Williams shared the six sprint prizes equally on a day that they sure would have traded that in for the top overall prize but that was not to be as Persaud outsmarted them.
Persaud also won the veteran category overall with Paul Choo-wee-Nam and USA based Keith Burrowes (United CC) second and third, respectively.
Michael Anthony continued his dominance of the junior category in this his final year with overall victory from fellow Lindener Shaquelle Agard and Junior Caribbean Road Race bronze medalist, Alanzo Ambrose.
The youngest rider to compete and finish all five stages was Raphael ‘Sniper’ Leung who was rewarded for his sterling effort.
It was by no means an easy task for any of the riders who have been battling each other since Thursday when the first two stages were held. Stage three was held on Friday with the fourth on Saturday.
The defining moment in yesterday’s climax came at Providence on the East Bank of Demerara with the breakaway group consisting of Geron Williams, Alanzo Greaves, Michael Anthony, Marlon Williams, Andrew Hicks, Ray Millington, Scott Savory, Paul DeNobrega and Robin Persaud.
It was anybody race up to that point as well but in the end, Persaud’s experience brought him through.
At the presentation ceremony which was held at the National Cultural Centre and attended by Minister of Culture Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony, Director of Sport Neil Kumar and Guyana Cycling Federation President Ms. Cheryl Thompson among others, Minister Anthony congratulated all the riders for making the event another success.
Anthony pointed out that he would have loved to see the Team Coco’s issue sorted out and the team remain in the race. In making the race which has become the marquee event on the local cycling calendar even bigger, Minister Anthony stated that all the relevant stakeholders must come together and a secretariat must be set up where the rules would be formulated and disseminated to all prior to the race for all to be edified.
Anthony, whose ministry is the sole sponsor of what he describes as a signature event, noted that he doesn’t want the event to attract controversy but would rather see a high level of maturity on all sides and a willingness for mediation to be an option when necessary.
The race which is used to highlight specific issues and in this case HIV/Aids would have achieved its objective of educating the populace on the disease Minister Anthony informed.

He suggested that the race must now be used to bring focus on chronic non-communicable diseases including hypertension and cardio vascular diseases.
“The reason being is that there are too many persons in our country who at the age of 40 and 45 are coming down with heart attacks and so forth and the reason is that they are not exercising anymore, they are not eating the right things so therefore because of how they live their lives they are seeing these challenges. We can change that and the cyclists who have been with us as peer educators I want them to assist in the area of non-communicable diseases.”
Thompson while congratulating the riders stated that she was disappointed with the withdrawal of Team Coco’s from the event.
“Before you were sent off I had indicated that team and team managers must respect the rules that governed the event. Cyclists, discipline is most important and rules are to be abided by in every aspect of the sport. Without that we would not have a successful event.”
Thompson said that she is looking forward for the management of Team Coco’ s to write the GCF to apologize for their withdrawal noting that they were warned and told about the rules governing the race.
Kumar also thanked the riders for their commitment to the event whilst thanking Coach Hassan Mohamed and his team for executing a well-oiled race. Members of the Guyana Police Force in Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo came in for high praise for the usual professional way in which they conducted themselves whilst providing efficient service during the course of the entire event.
Kumar also thanked the respective Regional Chairmen and the NDC’s for chipping in also during the 5-stages.
Following are the Overall results
Position    Name            Time
1st         Robin Persaud         10:26:06
2nd         Alanzo Greaves         10:26:15
3rd         Geron Williams         10:26:22
4th         Marlon Williams         10:26:36
5th         Paul DeNobrega         10:29:00
6th         Scott Savory         10:29:35
7th         Michael Anthony         10:30:19
8th         Paul Choo-wee-Nam     10:31:40
9th         Shaquille Agard         10:37:40
10th         Ray Millington         10:39:48
Juniors
1st         Michael Anthony         10:30:19
2nd         Shaquille Agard         10:37:40
3rd         Alonso Ambrose         10:41:07
Veterans
1st         Robin Persaud         10:26:06
2nd         Paul Choo-wee-Nam     10:31:40
3rd         Horace Burrowes         10:40:13

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