Cycling dominates weekend sports

James Adderley

Good Evening I’m James Adderley and this is Sports Monday. Yesterday the Belize Cycling Associating staged a criterium ride around the Princess Margaret Drive to kick off the national celebrations here in the city.

And at the start, there are some thirty of Belize’s best cyclists in the hunt for today’s win in this thirty-five-lap adventure.

It’s not the best day for cycling, but the faithful do show up despite the incessant rain. Nevertheless, the rains seem to pump up Mateo Cruz very early in the ride as he steps on the pressure.

Please appreciate the difficulty of competing today in terms of balance on the bicycle and visibility. Fans, it’s rough out there.

Some eight laps in the lead pack begin to take definition under the furious pacing of team Santino. Midway through the course the lead pack has now divided to six riders including Douglas Lamb, Ariel Rosado, Fred Usher, Mateo Cruz and Ernest Meighan.

Here is where the lead pack begins to break up as the riders continue to probe each other’s mettle. Of course there is always a chase bunch and certainly they are thinking of bridging the gap right about now. Suddenly, it’s a 3-man Santino lead as Ernest Meighan, Ariel Rosado and Mateo Cruz execute the breakaway.

The Santino trio has now become the force inside the race, but there’s a trio making a run at them. At this point it becomes obvious that no one’s going to catch up with the Santino lead.

Meanwhile, folks it might be hard to tell who is winning from this picture, but it’s the men in the back who are completing the thirty-five-lap ride. Ernest Meighan took top honours in one hour, seventeen minutes, followed by Mateo Cruz and Ariel Rosado to complete the Santino sweep. Congratulations.

Orson Butler finished fourth, Michael Lewis of Sunflower Cycling Club fifth, Bruce Sanchez Jr. of Radiance Jewelry rounds out the top sixth.

On the junior side we can tell you very quickly that it’s Wilbert Banks riding unattached who took the top honours inside the junior event. Leslie Sanchez finished second and Keith Enwright rounds out the top three.

Meanwhile folks, the Santino Classic, scheduled for the eighth September, but has now been cancelled as sponsor Santino Castillo wanted the Santino Classic to be limited to Belizean riders only. In a letter addressed to the Belize Cycling Association, Santino says the association has denied him that opportunity and as a result he’s pulling out of this particular event. It is now possible that the association will step in to fill this void because this is a big time fixture on the national celebrations calendar. For sure, we are going to keep you posted.

That’s our show for today, we certainly invite you back same time, same place next week. Jah over all, I’m James Adderley.