Belizean women win Cross Country, men disappointed
Good evening, I’m James Adderley and welcome to another serving of Sports Monday. We take you immediately into the early morning of Holy Saturday for the start of the 71st edition of the annual Cross Country Cycling Classic and it’s always a spectacle to see over a hundred riding off in search of fame and glory.
However, first we must disperse with the female race which featured 4 starters but Norma Nuñez fell victim to the pace en route to Belize City. Inside the National Stadium at money time is Camille Solis seeking her sixth while Fiona Humes searches for her second. In the sprint for the female title, Fiona Humes hugs the inside and has the momentum but Camille Solis accelerates to take the big “W” and we say congrats.
Camille Solis, Champion
“I must first say hats off to Fiona; she rode a very aggressive, smart race. She was basically solely responsible for Ms. Nuñez and Ms. Hannon on her own. As any good sprinter tries to do is get the other person in front of him and that’s just what happened; I tried to get her ahead of me and for a while she was but when you’re sprinting you have to know where to pick your spot and that’s just what I tried to do.”
Fiona Humes, Second Place
“We were side by side close to the line but I think her experience beat me. But I feel very good.”
Q: “If you had that sprint over again what would you do differently?”
Fiona Humes
“Try to go ahead and try to beat her.”
Meanwhile American Jane Hannon settles for third.
Now the first 4 male riders to enter the National Stadium after this grueling 142 mile ride to Cayo and back. Christopher Fredericks and Steve Mujak both of Santino’s are being led by the Cuban Arian Lopez Leon along with Angel Perez of Guatemala. Halfway through the final lap Fredericks pulls the trigger, the Guatemalan Perez responds. Fredericks continues to accelerate. Around the final curve the Guatemalan wilts. Chris Fredericks of Santino’s sails in to take the 1999 edition of this covered title; Steve Mujak overtakes for second place while Angel Perez settles for third.
The Cubans controlled the race but their top gun Arian Lopez Leon had little left going to the finish line and had to ease up for fourth place. Meanwhile in the sprint for fifth place it’s Grant Potter of Santino’s on the outside to take that prize, Gustavo Carillo pulls up 6th, Andrew Smiling gives us our best Belizean finish at 7th, Barry Brown finishes 8th, Orson Butler another Belizean finish comes in at 9th while Ramon Garcia of the Dominican Republic round out the top 10.
Q: “Was taking off early in the sprint the way you planned it?”
Christopher Fredericks, Champion
“Actually Steve was gonna try to get away early but when that didn’t work, I figured if I attacked they would have to chase me to give them a free lead out to the line. So if I make it I win; if they catch me he wins. Works out there’s no way to lose it that way.”
Q: “It looked like you and Steve weren’t doing a lot of work coming in; we saw Cuban Leon doing most of the attacking?”
Christoper Fredericks
“They did a lot on the way back; Steve did a lot of work on the way in. But just on the inside of Belmopan we were still with the big group, the field was still there and less than a minute and Bobby Lee was saying look they’re chasing and you gotta go now. So for about half an hour Steve and I just went to the front and with everything we had, driving the pace. The Cubans were content that if they got caught they could go back and race, but with us if we got caught we got Bobby and Grant in the tail. Everybody to back us up. I told Bobby that if we got caught I would get in the truck because I was going with everything I had.
Baron Bliss was a great thing because I bridged up to those guys coming into the grave yard and just had it with the sprint. This one is more special being the Cross Country Champion.”
Steve Mujak, Second Place
“I did a lot of work. Chris was leaning on a little bit but I knew he had a great sprint so I didn’t mind doing a lot of work with the Cuban. The Cuban and I were doing a lot of work coming into town and we didn’t want to get caught. It just worked out great with the one two.”
Q: “You didn’t like the way things ended after making that brilliant bridge getting back to the lead you fell out to a puncture. Tell us what happened?”
Mateo Cruz
“When I got the puncture, I told Chris to wait and they told me to get my wheel and go into the bunch and sit but if didn’t work out that way. They just went to the top and just rotated and that was the break and I knew it; I knew it.”
Douglas Lamb
“This is a team and the guys wanted to wait but when we caught up with Mateo it was 50 second so it was a serious time; we could lose chances of winning the race. If the whole team got there things could have changed and I think that is one of the reasons why the guys didn’t wait fully.”
In football news, Juventus of Orange Walk captured its 4th B.F.L. title by holding La Victoria to a 1-1 draw Sunday at the Ricalde Stadium.
That’s it. We invite you back same time, same place next week. Jah over all. I’m James Adderley.
