Trini Akil Campbell wins Independence Three-Stage cycling
- Grant-Stuart, Sookhai and Spencer other category winners
By Avenash Ramzan
Dominant. Fearless. Strategic. That was Team Foundation’s weekend in a nutshell.
The team of talented riders proved their cycling prowess in the most clinical fashion to stamp their authority on the 39th Independence Three-Stage Cycling championship, sponsored by the National Sports Commission in collaboration with the Guyana Cycling Federation.
When the dust settled just before noon on Sunday, Team Foundation finished a strong 1-2 overall with Akil Campbell of Trinidad and Tobago emerging the Three-Stage winner, followed by teammate and the ever-consistent Jamual John of Guyana.
The duo came in together to win third and final leg from Linden to Georgetown, crossing the finish line on Homestretch Avenue way ahead of their nearest competitors.
At the completion of three stages, Campbell had an overall time of seven hours, 18 minutes, 19 seconds, followed by John with seven hours, 22 minutes, 32 seconds.
They were followed by Curtis Dey, Kemuel Moses, Jason Cameron, David Hicks, Deeraj Garbarran, Walter Grant-Stuart, Marcus Keiler and Andre Greene in that order to round off the top 10 finishers.
Grant-Stuart was the overall top Veteran rider, clocking seven hours, 33 minutes, 02 seconds, followed by Robin Persaud in second and Paul Chooweenam third.
In the Junior category, Arjoon Sookhai, the son of Veteran rider Jaikarran Sookhai, was crowned champion with a best overall time of five hours, 58 minutes, 15 seconds, narrowly prevailing over Sherwin Sampson, who was timed at five hours, 58 minutes, 19 seconds.
Dimitri Madansir of Suriname came in third. The Juniors did a shorter distance that the Seniors.
18-year-old Lindener Clivecia Spencer, competing in his first-ever stage race, was the overall Female champion, having won the opening two legs on Saturday from Corriverton to New Amsterdam and then Rosignol to Georgetown.
For the final leg on Sunday, Spencer, a student of the Linden Technical Institute, was the lone starter and the organiser opted against her completing the full course, given it was a foregone conclusion she was the overall winner.
“It feels great to win,” the Team Coco’s rider told News Room Sport. “I put in a lot of hard work and this is the result.”
Third Stage (Linden to Georgetown)
On Sunday’s final leg, Campbell and John sprinted away from the pack on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway and that moment effectively defined the rest of race as they others were left to settle for the other position.
The Team Foundation pair kept increasing their gap on the chasing pack, and they finished four minutes ahead of the third place finisher.
Campbell and John were timed at two hours, 52 minutes, nine seconds, followed by Curtis Dey (02:56:08s), Kemuel Moses (02:56:08s), and Roy Wilson, Jason Cameron and David Hicks, who finished with a bunch time of two hours, 59 minutes, 19 seconds.
Team Foundation rules Day One
In the opening leg from Corriverton to New Amsterdam, a distance of 40 miles, Team Foundation pair Raynauth Jeffrey and Campbell were the first to cross the finish line together, while on Stage Two from Rosignol to Carifesta Avenue, John of took the top spot.
On Stage One, Jeffrey and Campbell were timed at one hour, 47 minutes, 13.51 seconds, while Garbarran, Grant-Stuart, Moses and Cameron occupied positions third to sixth respectively with a time of one hour, 51 minutes, 28 seconds.
They were followed by Mario Washington, Alex Mendes, Alexander Leung, Sherwin Sampson, Ralph Williams, Kenrick Sahadeo, Andre Greene, Junior Niles, Kwame Ridley, Jamual John, Kwame Fortune, Dimitri Madansir, Marcus Keiler, Robin Persaud, Jorryn Simson and Christopher Griffith, who received a bunch time of one hour, 55 minutes, 05 seconds.
On Stage Two, race officials stopped the clock at two hours, 35 minutes, 35 seconds when John raced past the finish line, followed by Dey of Team Evolution.
Coming in third was David Hicks, followed by Campbell, Keiler and Grant-Stuart in that order.
