Birthday boy Abraham wins Beacon 14-Lap

LOCAL road race king Emile Abraham followed an earlier fireworks display at the Queen’s Park Savannah by out-pedalling his rivals in the opening 14-lap international event to push the West Indies team ahead in the Beacon Insurance-sponsored West Indies vs The World Cycling Series in style. And as he celebrated his 31st birthday on Wednesday, he told the appreciative crowd it was the best birthday present he had ever given himself. With the win Abraham also took home a $3,000 prize. He completed the victory in a time of one hour and nine minutes but earlier won an additional $3,000 for sponsored laps during the course of the race, along with Italian Roberto Chiappa and Venezuelan Antonio Medina.

Afterwards, Abraham said while it was unfortunate to have lost two riders early in the race, the team planned not to have any break-aways and they were able to do just that. He described the race as extremely fast, adding that he could not have done it alone. Abraham thanked the other members of the West Indies team which included Stephen Mangroo, Elijah Greene, Junior Niles, Neil Samuel and Florencio Perez for pushing him along the way. Argentina’s Sebastian Donadeo, unable to command a place in his national team for the Pan American Games created waves at the start of the event with a number of sterling performances. He too shared in the cash distribution during the race but faded nearing the end, as the big guns stepped forward.

Scotland’s Craig McLean won the first $1,000 special prize  with a ride that would have had the fans edgy at the start. And at that point he would have held the advantage ahead of the large field, as the win saw him split Abraham’s savannah-lap record, with a quick time of four minutes and 43 seconds. The previous time was four minutes and 48 seconds. But having been in training in the United States, the powerful Abraham showed that he was a cut above the rest, even including America’s Mike Friedman and Ben Barcezwski who he trained with for the past few months in the US. He won the different laps at regular intervals and apart from his overall triumph, fans would have been contented with just his performance, had he not won the event.

Abraham had practically outclassed his opponents on the night, including sprint favourites Jan Van Eigden from Germany and his countryman Mathias John. Strangely, Chiappa who has been known for his ability in the sprints had surprised all when he secured the runners-up spot in the long distance event. Chiappa had won the Italian Matchsprint event on some 32 occasions, and was among those expected to fade in the gruelling 14-laps event, but did not. He promised afterwards to avenge the defeat at the series next year. Venezuela’s Medina had done enough to claim third on the night and would feel confident for the rest of the series, which will take place at Skinner Park tomorrow and at the Arima Velodrome on Sunday.