RIDING HIGH

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cycling Union came up trumps with a successful staging of the Villa Lodge OECS Cycling Championship.

President of the local union Trevor Bailey was upbeat last Monday at the completion of the championship.

Bailey said that he was “very pleased” with the races and the general execution of the duties by the officials.{{more}}

His satisfaction was echoed by several of the visiting cyclists who gave kudos to the local body and were fascinated with the courses chosen especially Sunday’s.

Bailey, who also heads the Pan American Cycling organisation, said he was eagerly anticipating recognition of the championship by other international bodies.

He disclosed that the championship was a prelude to the bigger Caribbean event set for Tortola in October.

“There’s much at stake for the Caribbean championships, as the three top finishers automatically qualify for the PAN AM Games next year”, Bailey revealed.

Bailey was at the forefront of the revival of the championship last year following years of dormancy.

The two-day event brought together cyclists from the sub-region in a 65 mile road race on Sunday from Georgetown to Mt Grenan and return six times.

On Monday, the OECS cyclists were joined by competitors from Trinidad and Tobago in a 20 lap race around Kingstown.

The championship involved seven member states of the OECS.

Chris Ghiorse of the British Virgin Islands was at the head of the pack in Sunday’s race covering the course in 3 hours 28.9 seconds.

Ghiorse, 43 outsmarted his younger opponents in the challenging event.

Tyron Thomas of Grenada was second in 3 hours 29 seconds, with Ronnie Bryan of Anguilla third in 3 hours 39.38 seconds.

Completing the top five finishers were Grenada’s Danny Denelar in 3 hours 02 minutes 52.87 seconds and local hopeful Marlon Antrobus in 3 hours 02 minutes 52.91 seconds.

Regional unity was added on Monday as the open event was staged. Barry Lucef broke from the pack early to complete the 31.5 miles in 1 hour 04 minutes 12.77 seconds.

Thomas was again second as he and Lucef made a chase to the finish line in front the Y De lima building on Bay Street.

The Grenadian clocked 1 hour 04 minutes 16.11 seconds. Ghiorse rode in third as he headed the main pack in a mad rush to the finish.

Ghiorse’s time was 1 hour 04 minutes 43.52 seconds.Shannon Metivay of Trinidad and Tobago was fourth and Antrobus fifth.