Hernan Ochaeta tops 1st annual junior four stage cycle tour
Good evening I’m James Adderley with your weekly delivery of Sports Monday.
The first ever junior four stage cycle tour in Belize blasted off at Sugar City O.W. on Thursday through the efforts of the Belize Cycling Association as five teams, featuring some thirty cyclists including Team Alberta of Canada, take off to complete the sixty-four mile stage one which would take them from Orange Walk to Leslie’s Imports just outside Belize City. Turning into Boom cut off finds three Smart riders, two Indeco and a Canadian rider controlling the pace. At the finish it’s Hernan Ochaeta of O.W. Smart grabbing stage one in a time of three hours, nine minutes, thirteen seconds to seize control of the yellow jersey. Edward Reyes wins the sprint for second place, while Rodrigo Leiva rounds out the top three to make it a Smart sweep. Stage two on Friday brought up the individual time trial event which sees a man and his machine race against time for eleven miles on the Boom Road. Tariq Cowo took top honours in twenty-four minutes, twenty-seven seconds followed by Edward Reyes, James Winter of Team Alberta while Hernan Ochaeta rounds out the top four. Ochaeta’s finish is good enough to leave him in possession of the yellow jersey.
In the meantime folks, stage three from the Capital City to Middlesex and back to Belmopan, a fifty-five mile ride through the hills, unexpectedly finishes in a field sprint and it’s Geon Hanson who raises up for the Big W, Kyle Gentle takes second and Austin Armstrong the Canadian takes third. Of note, is the fact the yellow jersey, Hernan Ochaeta finishes in the pack at number seventeen which gives him the same time as the winner so he remains with the leaders shirt with a total time of six hours, thirty-six minutes, nineteen seconds. Which brings us to yesterday’s stage four with Edward Reyes just four seconds behind the yellow jersey going in, James Winter fifteen seconds and David Henderson a minute thirty-six seconds off the pace as the race leaves Benque Viejo heading to Belize City. This young man, Kyle Gentle wins the sixty-five mile final stage in impressive style, Austin Armstrong takes second while Darren Williams pulls up third. Of course, Ochaeta finishes a minute eleven seconds off the pace but we must salute Hernan Ochaeta who wins it all in a total time of nine hours fifty-eight minutes and forty-six seconds for the one hundred and ninety-five miles of cycling presented in this particular package. David Henderson of Indeco rode off with the Polka Dot King of the Hills Jersey while Rodrigo Leiva of O.W. Smart took home the Sprinters Green Jersey and we say congratulations to one and all.
Meanwhile folks, the ninth annual Lionman Triathlon will reign supreme this Sunday at the Barracks as a part of the National Celebrations Calendar so we caught up with the originator of this particular event, Efrain “Beeps” Phillips.
Efrain “Beeps” Phillips, Organiser, Lionman Triathlon
“Once again, it’s the ninth annual Lionman triathlon scheduled for the ninth of September starting at eight a.m. sharp. Once again, we want to invite the crowd out to come and witness this event. I’m making some changes this year with the swimming course. We’re trying to get more youths involved. We invited the Mexican contingent, we invited the Guatemalan contingent. Last year the defending champion was a Guatemalan Alberto Shun. We haven’t gotten any report if they are coming but we have invited them. So we’re hoping that the Belizeans are training hard enough to represent Belize in this race.”
David Pollard, Lionman Triathlon
“We realize from feedback from the fans that they don’t really get to see the swimmers when they’re swimming. They only get to see them when they’re starting and the turn around point which is near the start. What we’re doing this year is we’re allowing the swimmers to swim closer to shore so they won’t get more than a hundred and fifty meters from the shore. They’ll still do the two laps but it will be more spectator friendly.”
Of course folks, contact can be made at Lionman2008.com.
Now let’s play catch-up on the football scene. Week five of the RF&G saw Sugar Boy Juventus hosting Nizhee Corozal inside the Peoples’ Stadium yesterday. We’re only eighteen minutes in when Dean Flowers comes up with this monster slice that gives Sugar Boys, who came in with a two and two record, a 1-zip lead. Antonio Castillo tries to come up with the reply for Corozal with this floater saved by Jeffrey Waight in goal. This nice move by Sergio Gilharry looks good but fails to impress the scoreboard. Talk about good defense people, Roamir Canul looks most spectacular against this thrust from Christopher Hendricks. Down a goal, Corozal now finds themselves down a player too when Antonio Castillo is chased off the field by the referee for unsportsmanlike conduct. At the half it’s still a 1-zip ballgame. In the second half, Nizhee Corozal, who came in with a three and one record go to work and indeed Roger Alamilla should have found the empty goal of this try. Corozal comes right back with this header that is pushed off by Jeffrey Wright of O.W. Still folks, you can disagree with me but this looks like a good goal to me. Referee Jones disagrees and he has the whistle. At the other end Colville Richards fails to handle this ball properly. Deon Flowers gets possession and his right away offering gives O.W. a 2-zip lead fifty-eight minutes in. Make it a hat trick for Deon Flowers when he heads this ball into the net as O.W. takes a 3-zip lead at the sixty-fifth minute of this ballgame. Corozal looks to put back one on this nice run by Clifton Hall but we’re not sure what happens right here except we do know the ball is outside the sticks. The visitors get another good look at goal when Jose Lemus leaves the defense standing only to blow the one on one encounter with Mr. Waight. However, Nizhee does get its consolation goal when Clifton Hall stays with this play to tap it in for the 3-1 score at the eighty-seventh minute. Although folks, we must say when it’s not your day, it’s simply not. This auto goal gives Sugar Boys a 4-1 big W and they climb to a three and two record while Corozal falls to three and two showing after an impressive three and zero start.
In other action over the weekend, Llagulei got dropped for the first time in a 3-1 loss to F.C. Belize at the M.C.C. Grounds yesterday. Georgetown beat Benque 2-1, the BDF whipped Wagiya 6-2 but that’s getting to be every outing, while Hankook Verdes and San Pedro Dolphins battled to a 1-1 stalemate. Looking to week six in the RF&G tournament, on Saturday, thirtieth August, Georgetown will host Llagulei while on Sunday San Pedro sails to Corozal, Verdes plays host to Sugar Boys, Wagiya gets a visit from Benque D.C. United and at the M.C.C. Grounds the B.D.F. takes aim at F.C. Belize.
In other football news, the Female Football League presents it’s all star show this Saturday at the M.C.C. Grounds. The three-peat champions, Gentle Touch of Esperanza from Cayo, will face the league’s all star on the main event which will be followed by the presentation of the season awards. Make that date and don’t be late. We also must remind you fine Belizeans that Hankook Verdes begin its participation in the UNCACAF Champions tournament on Saturday at Mexico against the mighty Cruz Azul. The home match is set for September third at Belize.
In softball news, Club 313 mashed up the Belize City council 18-4 over the weekend, the Belize Electricity Limited jolted Central Bank 27-20 and Central Bank disciplined Club 313 11-4 to make the playoffs. We say congratulations. Of course, the big action now begins tonight in game one in the Championship series Belize Electricity Limited goes up against central Bank.
Hey folks, that’s our show for today. We invite you back same time, same place, next week. Jah over all, I’m James Adderley.
