Junior rider takes New Year’s Cycling Classic
There are no hills to punish the athletes’ muscles and the route through cane fields and coastal plains lacks the forested splendour of the view from the Western Highway… but the new year’s cycling race from Corozal to Belize City, sponsored by KREM Radio, makes up for the lack of scenery with an abundance of speed and no shortage of drama. Cameraman George Tillett followed the race from the starting line and News 5’s James Adderley followed up with the post production play by play.
James Adderley, Reporting
The 14th KREM Cycle Classic brought with it colour and contrast, talent and skill, emotion and excitement, and of course the usual pre-race controversy. Only one radio station was allowed to broadcast, while the Belize Cycling Association had its recently passed law overruled when Americans not invited by the Association did participate–but so what, this da Belize.
Nevertheless, the signal from Mr. Lizama finds some eighty elite and junior riders bunched for the start at Corozal Town and we cannot help but be mesmerized by the incredible display of colour in the morning sun.
Folks, it’s a four-man breakaway featuring Giovanni Leslie, Douglas Lamb, Jose Choto, and Denroy Langford that sprints for the one thousand dollar prize at Orange Walk, but in the shock to the elites, junior rider Giovanni Leslie takes the preemie.
Out of sugar city these four riders try to make a run for the money, but the hungry pelathon just behind will have none of that this New Year’s Day. At the Crooked Tree cut off a new lead configuration has emerged, but watch Vernon Terry get up on the inside to steal the station prize from Giovanni Leslie.
At Gerald Garbutt’s farm at mile twenty-four and a quarter on the Northern Highway it’s Vernon Terry, Marlon Castillo, Ian Smith and Jeffrey Zelaya in the hunt for the preemie, but Terry runs away with it.
Sandhill fans find a pair of stalwarts locking horns and Marlon Castillo is boss, this time edging out Ian Smith.
As we head for the Burrell Boom cut off we begin to wonder if this lead duo of Smith and Castillo can run away with it. Well, they’re still at it when they zoom pass the airport junction, which overflows with excited fans. However, as we streak to the finish line in front of Santos Diaz, it’s a four man show–and you can believe it, the junior rider, Marlon Castillo steps it up to a higher level to grab the big prize in three hours thirty-four minutes nineteen seconds.
Mateo Cruz crosses the finish line second, Shane Vasquez pulls up third, Ernest Meighan takes fourth, while Ian Smith pulls in alone for fifth spot. And indeed there might be a changing of the guard in Belizean cycling–a junior rider wins it all is the headline.
Marlon Smith, Winner, KREM Cycling Classic
“I want to big up my coach the Cuban, Eddie, he deh behind me, train me everyday; my sponsor Santiago Castillo, they push me and they say they demand on me fi win the race.”
Q: So can we expect more from Marlon Castillo come the 2004 cycling season, more big wins possibly?”
Marlon Smith
“Well yes. I will keep training harder.”
Mateo Cruz, 2nd, KREM Cycling Classic
“Well our plan was the team was to work for four men: Jawmeighan, me, Jeffrey and Ariel. We were to break it up at Crooked Tree. I think the plan worked perfectly. I just would like to say thanks to my fans for having confidence in me. I know it was close, but yet so far.”
Shane Vasquez, 3rd, KREM Cycling Classic
“I didn’t have much of a strategy today because my team was kinda weak, so I had to come out here and play the game as right as possible to finish third place today. At the ending of the race it was a little bit difficult with me having to match up with three Santino’s riders, and it was hard for me because they were playing this cat and mouse game with me, but I manage to still pull off third.”
At the junior level Marlon Castillo also took that prize after upsetting his elders in the big one. Keron Fernandez pulled up second, and Giovanni Choto took third.
Barney Brown took the masters prize, forcing Frank McCannon into second and former champion Douglas Lamb into third place.
On the female side, the cyclist of the year, Fiona Humes Gonzalez took top honours, Claudette Maheia pulls up second, and Violet Morrison settled for third.
The next big event on the cycling calendar comes up on Valentine’s Day. Stay tuned to Channel 5. However, that’s it for now, this is James Adderley reporting for News 5.
We’d like to thank Kwame Scott for his help with interviews on that story.
