Sanchez retains Cycling on the Avenue crown

Sanchez, coming off a solid showing at the recently concluded Tobago International Cycling Classic, continued his good form, winning Tuesday’s 35-lap main event in a sprint finish ahead of Jonathan Mould (JLT Condor/ UK) and Jose Luis Rivera (Team Econo Car/Colombia).

The entire peloton was in with a chance to win the event with eight laps to go including four-stage Tobago Classic winner Arno Van Der Zwet (Netherlands/Team PSL) who won multiple lap prizes on Tuesday night. With one lap remaining, the title was still up for grabs, but Sanchez showed his sprinting prowess to win the main event for a second time and take home $10,000 and a trophy.

Sanchez’s Team Foundation teammates Adam Alexander (TT ) and Juan Pimentel (USA) finished fifth and seventh respectively.

The victory by Sanchez made it three victories in the past five years by Dominican Republic and Team Foundation in the event. Prior to the back-to-back victories by Sanchez, the late Euris Vidal of Dominican Republic won the event in 2013.

Sanchez was overjoyed with his win and expressed confidence that if the race came down to a sprint he would cop the title.

Speaking through translator Pimentel, Sanchez said, “I am very happy to be able to retain this title once again. I was pretty confident coming into this race because I knew I brought a very strong team here and I knew if it came down to a sprint, I would have a great chance to defend this title and I did it successfully today.” He added, “I am very proud to write my name in history and I will come to this event next year and the year after that and the year after that. I will like to dedicate this victory to my wife back home and I would also like to dedicate this victory to my teammate Rafael Meran who unfortunately suffered an accident in stage two in the Tobago Classic.” Sanchez’s Team Foundation teammate Joshua Alexander (TT ) was satisfied that his team was victorious. Alexander said, “We are happy to be here and to come out on top again.” Alexander added that the plan was for some of the Team Foundation riders to win the lap prizes but the main goal was to win the overall crown. “We had a plan where some of us will go for the primes (lap prizes) and of course he (Sanchez) is our main guy for the sprint. It did not go 100 percent as planned, we got some primes but it was kind off tough because we still had (Team) Cocos and (Team) PSL to deal with.

Although that was tough for us, we had to focus on the (overall) win and that was the main goal and we came out on top.” RESULTS:
Beacon – Main Event International, Elite 1&2, Invitational
1. Norlandy Sanchez – Team Foundation – Dominican Republic
2. Jonathan Mould – JLT Condor – UK
3. Jose Luis Rivera – Team Econo Car - Colombia
4. Luis Diaz – The Braves – Venezuela
5. Adam Alexander – Team Foundation – TT
6. Akil Campbell – Team DPS – TT
7. Juan Pimental – Team Foundation
8. Phillip Clarke – Unattached - Barbados

NLCB – 200m Sprint Invitational/ International
1. Jabari Whiteman – Southclane Cycling Club – TT
2. Adam Alexander – Team Foundation – TT
3. Marloe Rodman – PSL RBC – Jamaica

Yoplait – Juveniles
1. Enrique De Commarond – Heatwave Cycling Club – TT
2. Darius Beckles – Open Road Challenge – TT
3. Adam Francis – The Braves – TT

Gatorade – Ladies Open
1. Teneil Campbell – Team DPS – TT
2. Keiana Lester – Bike Smith – TT
3. Tonya Sun Kow – The Braves – TT

Pressplay – Juniors
1. Lorenzo Orosco – Breakaway – TT
2. Roneil Woods – Team Woods – TT
3. Jabari Whiteman – Southclaine – TT

CPS – Masters 40-49
1. Raphael Figueira – Breakaway – TT
2. Sergio Marques-Pita – Slipstream – TT
3. Marque Carvalo – Heatwave – TT

Lifestyle Motors -
Sprint Invitational/ International Two- Lap
1. Norlandy Sanchez – Team Foundation – Dominican Republic
2. Tyler Spurnell – PSL RBC
3. Geron Williams – Team Foundation – Guyana

Flow Elite 3/4
1. Nikolai Ho – The Braves – TT
2. Emmanuel Watson – PSL RBC – TT
3. Christopher Govia – Breakaway - TT

Newsday Masters 50–59
1. Rodney Woods – Team Woods – TT
2. Robin Samuel – The Braves – TT
3. Michael Brown – PSL RBC – TT

Blue Waters Masters 60-69 & 70+
1. Cyril Fook – PSL RBC – TT
2. Peter Hernandez – Hummingbirds – TT
3. (1st 70+) – Joey Nunes – Hummingbirds – TT

Top TT cyclist – Adam Alexander

Top Junior – Enrique De Commarond

Winner Of The People’s Prime Of Over $4000 – Jymes Bridges – Team DPS - Antigua and Barbuda