In-form Gill hunts cycling points

IN-FORM Christopher Gill is the man to beat today in the second and final part of the Rotating Equipment Services Cycling Challenge at the King George V Park in Port-of-Spain. Gill, riding for new club Rafman Mecalfab was in a dominant mood last Sunday in claiming victory in the main event, a 30-lap road grind which gave him 18 points. He was followed to the finish line by David Alves (Team Trek) in second and Darren Reid (Rafman Mecalfab) in third spot. Veteran Gene Samuel rolled back the years to place fourth.

Today, when performances over the two days will be tallied and count towards the overall prizes, intense competition is expected. Seven races are planned including the feature, another 30-lap race with the winner collecting $500, runner-up $300 and third place $200. There are also cash awards for fourth, fifth and sixth. Among those expected in the reckoning today is national champion Michael Phillips whose best ride was a fourth place last Sunday in the one-lap sprint. Also Samuel staked his claim winning the Masters 40 and Over event and surprising everyone in the feature race. He looks to be on the comeback trail and seems set to cause a few surprises again today.

Like last Sunday, a duathlon event organised by national champion Jason Gooding will be staged in an effort to introduce the winning combination of running and cycling on the national stage. Points earned in the Rotating Equipment Services cycling Challenge are going towards the National League Championship organised by Phillips Promotions Company Limited. The National League is a series of sponsored events throughout Trinidad and Tobago over the course of the year in which cyclists can strive for overall honours with the objective of emerging top of their respective categories. The programme today will involve the following events: One-lap sprint (Open); Four-lap Races for Juniors, Masters 40 and Over, Masters 50 and Over; and Category Four and Five cyclists. There will also be a kids programme for budding cyclists six to 14-years-of-age. The main event closes the day’s activities.

Following are points awarded in the first stage last Sunday.
One-Lap Sprint (Open): 1 Ako Kellar 12; 2 Adam Alexander 9; 3 Joshua Alexander 8; 4 Michael Phillips 7; 5 Elisha Greene 6; 6 Marc Codrington 5.
Juniors: 1 Haseem McLean 5; 2 Dariel Pereira 5; 3 Marc Codrington 4; 4 Jonathan Rawlins 3.
Masters 40 and Over: 1 Gene Samuel 7; 2 Dirk Ramchand 4; 3 Kelvin Lee Young 3; 4 Gregory D’Andrade 3.
Masters 50 and Over: 1 Lloyd Joseph 5; 2 Edward Watson 4; 3 Earl La Fond 3; 4 Neil Allen 3; 5 Kent Luces 1.
Category Four, Five: 1 Robert Thomas 8; 2 Raphael Figuera 4; 3 Gerald Aboud 3; 4 Roger Malco 1; 5 Mark Hosein 1.
Main Event (30-laps): 1 Christopher Gill 18; 2 David Alves 12; 3 Darren Reid 9; 4 Gene Samuel 8; 5 Elisha Greene 6; 6 Christopher Sellier 5; 7 Shannon Metevier 4; 8 Dariel Pereira 3; 9 Sheldon Ramjit 2; 10 Jason Gooding 1; 11 Joshua Alexander 1; 12 Raymond Ramcharan 1.