The Guyanese duo Paul DeNobrega and Junior Niles ended participation at the 32nd Pan-American Road Cycling Championships Elite Race in 44th and 69th positions respectively in the Elite Race, which took place at the Mirador Sur Park, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Sunday last.
The gruelling 170km contest on the 10km circuit presented perhaps the highest level of competition for the pair and they did their best coming against the best riders from the continent.
The winner of the contest was Columbia’s Andres Martinez in 3:18.47s, followed by Mexico’s Alfredo Infante, Sebastian Benavides (Columbia), Francisco Chamorro (Argentina) and Ignacio Maldonado of Uruguay. Barbadian Phillip Clarke ended 13th with Cuban Felix Fernandez 14th.
On Saturday, the Under-23 riders took centre stage in the 140km race, which saw Hamzah Eastman ending 20th and Jamal John 36th. Andrew Hicks, who after looking good and was challenging for a podium position, suffered cramping and had to settle for the 69th place from 71 starters.
Some 240 riders from 27 nations, including Cuba, France, Venezuela, Chile, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Haiti, USA, Brazil and Honduras, competed at the championship. There was also a female segment of the race, while Time Trials were also held.
The participation of the Guyana team in Santo Domingo would have been due in part to the contributions of Hadi’s World, Marics and Farfan and Mendes. President of the International Cycling Union (UCI), Brian Cookson attended the championship.
