American wins Holy Saturday race…again
Good evening I’m James Adderley and we welcome you to this dish of Sports Monday. We hope you enjoyed the Easter and we know you know that the Easter always brings the annual Cross Country Cycle Classic on Holy Saturday, so we take you immediately out to Georgie August on the Western Highway for the pre-race signing in before the seventy-sixth edition gets off.
A few minutes later, we’re off on this one hundred and forty mile journey that would take us to San Ignacio and back as we take a look at 2001 winner Ernest Meighan and the defending champion going in, the American Chris Harkey.
And well, they’re off–some ninety of the best including some twenty-two foreign athletes that came from Mexico, Guatemala, and the United States are in the hunt today.
The first real break of the ride occurs outside of La Democracia as this gang of seven sets its sights on San Ignacio in a spirit of co-operation.
This camaraderie continues even through the Belmopan cut-off and through the crowded village of Roaring Creek. But we must admit that the protagonist of the lead bunch would have to be Fermin Mendez of Guatemala who takes most of the station prizes on the hilly terrain.
However, at the halfway mark it’s only four contenders vying for the win and its the Cayo boys, Roger Trojer, Jose Choto, and Oliver Cruz putting on a show as Roger Trojer takes the station prize without breaking the record held by another Cayo athlete, Mateo Cruz. And on the way out it’s still a four-man show.
Meanwhile, if you’ve never seen what a chase bunch looks like, here is the pelathon rounding that same curve some three minutes later in hot pursuit. Nevertheless, the four-man unit runs all the way through Roaring Creek heading towards Belize City, and it’s Jose Choto grabbing the Garbutt’s Station prize.
However, at the Beaver Dam Bridge in St. Matthew’s Village, that run comes to an abrupt end as the four get swallowed by the chase group.
We’re around mile thirty-one when Chris Harkey mounts this incredible move as he walks out of this very large pack. Half a minute later, Harkey has widen the gap considerably and still there’s no response after the gauntlet had been thrown down…At least not until Shane Vasquez launched this counter-offensive against the speeding American.
Coming outside of Hattieville it’s still Chris Harkey with a one-minute lead over the chasing Shane Vasquez. Indeed, at Six Miles Bridge Harkey remains a solitary but confident figure.
So we rejoin Harkey inside the Marion Jones Sporting Complex where he intends to write his name into the history books by becoming the first back-to-back champion since Charlie Lewis and becoming the first foreigner to win two Cross Country titles, and to win two in a row.
Still, when he raises his hands in victory he has also shattered Ben Bernard’s record five hours, forty-nine minutes, eighteen seconds with a new time of five hours, forty-eight minutes, twenty-six seconds.
Shane Vasquez, who tried to answer Harkey’s challenge, is richly rewarded with an uncontested second place finish to become the first Belizean to cross the tape.
Meanwhile, there had been a spill involving some twelve riders around mile twelve, but the chase group remains more or less intact. On the inside, Ian Smith has a broken handle, but has the lead when Mateo Cruz attacks from the outside to steal third place. Ian Smith settles for fourth, Jose Antonio Hernandez of Mexico rolls in fifth, Guatemalan American Gustavo Carrillo takes sixth, American Erneas Freyre finishes seventh, Guatemalan Miguel Perez is eighth, big Mike Lewis settles for ninth, and Calman Williams rounds out the top ten.
For Chris Harkey the win comes at a heavy price this year, as he needs the emergency services of the Red Cross nurses to bring his body down after that gruelling journey.
James Adderley
“You broke the record, you became the first foreigner to win two cross country titles and you became the first foreigner to win two in a row, congratulations.”
Chris Harkey, Winner, Cross Country Cycling Classic
“Thank you, thank you very much.”
James Adderley
“We saw your definitive move around mile thirty. You broke out of that pack like a bullet; nobody had time to come up with a reply. You wanna tell us about it?
Chris Harkey
“Well the Coca-Cola guys chased all day, hats off to them for riding so strong, they had to pace up high and I said, as soon as this slows up I’m going to take it up another notch, and nobody went with me. And I just put my head straight ahead and the race was behind me and I was like, make them chase, make them chase. I had a great team here helping me out. I can’t say anything more…my team-mates worked for me back there and they kept everybody, chasing it down, keeping it slow and I just kept a steady pace in time trial all the way.”
James Adderley
“Was it your riding ability or the blocking of your team-mates that allowed you to finish unchallenged?”
Chris Harkey
“Well, like I said before the race, me and my team-mates have raced together for so long now, we know exactly what everybody else is thinking and they know when they see me go up the road like that, they know what to do and just let me do my thing. I got in a good rhythm and just keep my head down and keep going. It was extremely hard no doubt, I was empty, my tank was totally empty when I got on the track, but I had a big enough lead to hold them off.”
Shane Vasquez, 2nd Place, Cross Country Cycling Classic
I moved out too late in today’s race and it was a lot of hard work for me chasing, chasing. I tried my best.”
Q:
“When you set chase you have two Guatemalans, but you got rid of them. Was it your plan, shouldn’t you stay with them a little longer?”
Shane Vasquez
“Well, I was have stayed, but I don’t want to stay with someone who was going slower than what I would probably want to go, so I had to move out. I would have wanted to keep the pack closer, at least to a hundred and eighty-three feet where I am comfortable. Even though for some professionals that would be high, but for Belizean standards that is good.”
Mateo Cruz, 3rd Place, Cross Country Cycling Classic
“With this sport its just maturity. Over the years I have learned to be patient. I went out there and I was strong and Mr. Santino said, Mateo, patience Mateo, you are feeling good, patience. So I just sat back and made my team do the work for me. We had the three men, Ariel, Jawmeighan, and me, so I just had to sit back and noh do no work. I felt good, my legs are strong, hard work paid off, serious.”
James Adderley
“Tell us about the spill around mile twelve.”
Mateo Cruz
“The spill, I just saw some guys tangling up and someone hit me in the back. I miss the spill, but someone hit me in the back and I went over and I saw Ian on the ground, Robert was on the ground, a whole heap of guys was on the ground and my back brakes started touching, so I had to get off the bike and fix it. Then I saw Ian going up the road, but he had to stop too and I said uh oh, and I say his handle shaking, so I knew it broke.”
James Adderley
“Ian Smith certainly surprised the crowd by recovering to the point where he almost took third place. I think that is something very, very impressive coming from an athlete like that.”
Mateo Cruz
“Ian is like you said, the iron. That guy is determined. And when I saw him going past me at Belcan Bridge, I said, wow, what’s up with this guy. So I just got on his wheel and he brought me to the tape and then he attacked in the stadium, and like I told some of the reporters, Ian is a motivation for me. From ’93, Ian and me are battling it out from the Belize Games. Ian is a good friend with me and he will remain a good friend with me. I have to say congratulations to Ian, he has a big heart.”
Of course Chris Harkey is revved up for the garland and trophy ceremonies, but Shane Vasquez did get his garland too, from the Belize Cultural Society who hail from Guatemala, and they wanted to keep the traditional alive by rewarding the first Belizean to cross the finish line.
We say congratulations to the back-to-back champion and we say to the Belizean riders–you’ve got to work harder. It’s as simple as that.
Turning to the football scene, here are the results from the Regent Cup Tournament from over the Easter weekend. Kulture Yabra edged Calcutta Bulls 1-zip, Juventus jolted Hankook Verdes 2-1, Builder’s Hardware Bandits doubled Sagitun 4-2, while Griga United got over the San Pedro Seahawks 2-1.
That’s it for now. We want to tell you before we go though that for the next four weekends Patrick Jones will be sitting in on the this weekly programme. We wish him well. We know he is a capable performer, and of course, we’ll see you when we get back. Jah over all! I’m James Adderley.
