Smith takes Belmopan Cycling Classic
Good evening, I’m James Adderley with fresh dish of the longest running TV sports show in the country. The Belize Cycling Association staged the twenty-second running of on Sunday–a hundred mile ride that brought the best cyclist to the Western Highway.
We go immediately to the big finish at Constitution Park where the 2004 edition has become a two-man race between Ian Smith and Ariel Rosado.
At the turn to the tape, it’s Smith in lead as Rosado desperately tries to overtake, but the Smiling rider would have none of that today and he zips past the line to grab top honours while Rosado of Santino’s settles for second.
Thirty-five second later Shane Vasquez of Cayo and Abel Ochola of Bronco Miel Guatemala battle for third place, but the Belizean pulls away rather easily and we must say Shane Vasquez rode magnificently today.
Meanwhile folks, the solitary figure of veteran Earl Theus looms large as he streaks in in uncontested fashion to round out the top five and we say good show to Early B.
Ernest Meighan then cruises in for sixth place with Quinton Hamilton finishing seventh. The American Chris Harkey pulls up eighth.
Ian Smith, Winner, Belmopan Cycle Classic
“Well I was in the original breakaway that had a lot of riders and as usual, the Santino’s guys were just marking me. So the American and Mexican went away, so it’s just how the race rode out.”
James Adderley
“But Uribe and Harkey, would you say, were the ones who laid out the foundation for this win for you?”
Ian Smith
“Definitely, because if they weren’t that far out a lot of riders would have been attacking us. With them being out there so far it was just the stronger guys who had the legs to get across to them.”
James Adderley
“Tell the fans who hard it is for a veteran to come out of retirement and step up back to prime time.”
Ian Smith
“Very hard, I still can’t believe it that I am at this level again. I was sixty pounds overweight, thought my cycling days were over. I came back, I trained hard, a lot of discipline, eating the right foods, a lot of miles, having the good support that I have right now. So it’s just hard, I can’t believe that, I am back at this level.”
Ariel Rosado, 2nd, Belmopan Cycle Classic
“I was in front and he was behind me wheel dogging me, naturally because I’m the better sprinter and he had to get on my wheel to try and get my draft. And he jump and I shouldn’t have allowed him to jump first, basically I allowed him to jump first, thinking that he couldn’t jumped that fast, but he surprised me with a little quick jump and he got a gap on me and I couldn’t close him the way I liked.”
James Adderley
“Are you saying you’re a bit disappointed with your finish?”
Ariel Rosado
“Definitely, definitely. I don’t think I should have lost that.”
James Adderley
“Let me ask you the real question, if you had it to do over, what would you change?”
Ariel Rosado
“If I had it to do over, I would rewind a few feet and attack this man’s rider right here.”
On the ladies side Violet Morrison was simply the superior force.
Violet Morrison, Female Winner
“I looked at Gina and I asked her how she was feeling. She got on the pace and she kept the pace going and steady. And so although those other girls came off the pace, Gina said she felt good. I looked at those girls and they feel that they wanted to freewheel, but Gina was constantly coming around and she was keeping it steady. That gave me confidence that she is feeling well. She came up, coming closer the to sprint I again checked with her and she was okay, so I told her that I was gonna lead it off. And she came, but I kept looking around to see if she was coming around, coming closer to the sprint. She said she was close, but I didn’t see her, so I just buried down and came for it.”
Meanwhile, Marlon Castillo of Santino’s won the junior classification in the Belmopan Cycle Classic and we say congratulations.
Now let’s check in on the City Centre where the Boxing Association staged a large fight card Sunday that included boxers from San Benito, Guatemala.
Let’s kick things off with the peewee flyweight featuring thirteen-year-old Julio Caesar Legorio from Guatemala and eight-year-old Esau Gill. And while Gill demonstrate real skills and real heart, the older fighter proves to be just a bit too strong and he gets the win.
At one hundred and eighteen pounds Denfield Tasher of the B.D.F. cadets is all over Shane Gentle who gets pummelled so badly that his corner throws in the White towel of surrender.
Now here’s a new twist in Belizean boxing as Esmeralda Cruz and Rosanna Garcia of Guatemala both give an exhibition match of female boxing and these girls throw some wicked blows guys–so look out.
At one hundred and forty pounds Sherman Galvez looked to be in control of things against Elmer Aguilar of San Benito when this wicked straight right that gave the visitors all rights to the unanimous decision decks him.
Then came Eduardo Babb from the Fist of Truth Gym who did just enough to get the nod from the judges against Wendell Garcia who came in at one hundred and fifty-six pounds.
Meanwhile folks, Thor Middleton at one hundred and seventy-four pounds, has a fourteen pound advantage over Cecil Gill of the Department of Corrections. And while Gill is game fighter–the weight difference showed as twenty-one year old Thor Middleton gets the W.
In the final bout of the card, Belize’s favourite son, Horace Cadle of Lightburn’s Gym, was simply too much for the visiting Victoriano Lemus of San Benito, who came in weighing one hundred and forty-seven pounds. In fact, the fight ends when the visitor’s corner throw in the towel. To the boxing community, we say good show.
Turning to the football scene, Kulture Yabra, the defending B.P.F.L. champion clashed with the new and improved Griga United yesterday at the M.C.C. Grounds for the season opener.
The Griga team is the first to get a crack on goal with this wicked splice from outside the eighteen, but Stanley Reneau makes the save.
Yabra attacks off the set piece, but the header at the end of the play fails to find the target. Dangriga gets an open look at goal here, but again, Stanley Reneau foils the attempt. At the half we’ve got a scoreless ballgame.
In second half the lacklustre play by both ball clubs continue and Yabra might have been missing the play of Norman “Tilliman” Nunez who was suspended for two ballgames by the league and fined two hundred and fifty dollars for his outburst during the marathon package. The ballgame ground to a scoreless draw.
In other results from around the league the Builder’s Bandits bombed Hankook Verdes 4-1, Sagitun blanked Calcutta Bulls 1-nil, while Juventus beat the San Pedro Seahawks by that same score of 1-nil.
Checking in on La Ruta Maya, well its a sprint to the finish at Belcan Bridge here in Belize City, so the Quality Poultry team goes into high gear and maintain this poise as they cross the finish line–pulling up second in the Pine Lumber team who take second, while the Black Rock Lodge team paddles in for third in this race started at Hawkesworth Bridge in San Ignacio featuring some eighty-eight teams.
The winning team, sponsored by Quality Poultry, consisted of Alex Lisbey, Armin Lopez, and Daniel Cruz. The same three men also won last year. Efrain Cruz, Ignacio Cruz, and Rudy Cruz made up the second place Pine Lumber team.
Meanwhile, we just want to say in closing that we are certainly disappointed with the disastrous performance by the Belize National Basketball Team inside El Salvador where they were defending their Central American gold medal. It’s of historical proportion when a team is the champion and comes away from a tournament without a single win. Belize lost by twenty-four points to Costa Rica, forty-one to Puerto Rico, and thirty-six points to Honduras. Something went horribly wrong and someone should be held accountable. If it was football, the noise would be deafening at this point.
That’s it for now, we invite you back same time, same place, next week. Jah over all! I’m James Adderley.
