By Avenash Ramzan
A proper facility for cycling is what is needed to market the sport in Guyana. This is the view of long-serving national coach, Hassan Mohamed.
In an exclusive interview with News Room Sport on Wednesday, Mohamed also shared his thoughts on the current skills level in the sport.
Despite the abundance of talent that continues to be unearthed each year through its very active nursery programme, the cycling authority continues to struggle to convince the administration of the need for a designated track for riders to train and compete.
There have been several calls from the cycling fraternity for such a facility, but somehow governments of the past have not given it much attention. So far, there hasn’t been any public pronouncement by the current administration of its intention to erect such a facility.
In speaking of the importance of a track, Mohamed noted that it would benefit the sport in a number of ways. He highlighted that the sport could benefit from increased participation of riders and spectators, as well as an influx of corporate support.
Currently, circuit races are held in and around the National Park, while road races take place on teh country’s main thoroughfares.
While it is usually safe to do so since there are safety systems in place, the issue of riders having no choice but to utilise the roads to train has been a major concern for stakeholders in the sport.
A track would eliminate that bugbear, and also has the potential to attract a new cadre of persons to take up the sport.
Meanwhile, Mohamed reasoned that judging by what he has seen over the last couple of years, cycling is in safe hands talent-wise, as a number of young riders have been challenging their more senior counterparts of recent.
He highlighted the likes of Andrew Hicks, Raphael Leung, Jamaul John and Jeban Crawford as riders to expect great things from, as they have already laid a solid foundation in the sport.
Currently, local riders are on the off-season after the final race of 2016 was held two weeks ago.
