Who will win the Cross Country Cycling Classic?

Next Saturday, the bugle will sound at the starting line of this year’s Cross Country Cycling Classic. It’s the biggest sporting event locally that takes cyclists from Belize City, up the hills in the Cayo District and back into the old capital. Belizeans are feverishly hoping that the prestigious garland will go back in the hands of the local cyclists after last year’s win by a Guatemalan national. So who are the riders that are likely to cross the finish line in the top ten on Holy Saturday? News Five’s Isani Cayetano has the predictions from the experts.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

The eighty-third running of the Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic is a week away.  While fans of the annual event anxiously await its kickoff predictions are already being made for those who will finish among the top ten.  Included on that fantasy list several riders who have managed to make a name for themselves in other races.

Melvin Torres, Technical Director

“Peter Choto, I think probably he would be my best rider coming out of the west but also you cannot take Shane Vasquez out of it.  I think Shane has a very good chance to show it throughout the other races that he is right there.  He probably lost a few steps but he is right there.  Then we have some long shots and I will just say these long shots names.  We have Brandon Cattouse, Ardines Rivas, if he rides an excellent race, if he would go early [and] set the tone, make the tempo he is a very strong man.  He can stay out there a very long time and if they don’t calculate well then he would have a very good chance in the dance.  Jose Choto is another journeyman.”

The grueling tournament is quite possibly the biggest sporting event in the nation, a spectacle of speed and endurance on a simple machine.  The last Belizean to win the coveted garland did so in 2006.  Whether the trophy returns to a fellow countryman is anyone’s guess but our riders are confident that this will be the year.

Giovanni ‘Froggy’ Leslie

Giovanni ‘Froggy’ Leslie, Cyclist

“Definitely I can bring home the bacon.”

James Adderley

“Well you know, you have to tell your fans and the public, you know.”

Giovanni ‘Froggy’ Leslie

“Last year a lot of people never realized what happened.  I know when everyone saw me in the back of that truck I mean the things that I was hearing was no joke.  I felt bad and all of that played in to how I went on because I had to face the crowd all the way from Fabers Road through the city and I could feel their disappointment so all of that played into the way I went on.”

Santiago Castillo Jr

Veteran cyclist and sports enthusiast Santiago Castillo Jr., who also owns Team Santino’s, has boldly predicted that his riders will emerge victorious this year.

Santiago Castillo Jr., Veteran Cyclist

“At this point in time I think, first of all I rebuilt this team from scratch and at this point in time I honestly believe that team Santinos with the foreigners I’m bringing has the best chance to win cross country than any other team and even more so if you depend on the locals to win it on the team.  And the reason I’m saying that also is because I boast Froggy Leslie, Darnell Barrow but recently, two weeks ago, Greg Lovell departed Zamir team and came back home so to speak.”

Greg Lovell, who rode for team Zamir last year, performed well in the race despite not being able to win the title.  This year however, his teammates as well as his fans are banking on him to come out on top but only time will tell who the victor will be. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.