Cubans dominate Beacon cycle series

WORLD-RATED “Castro Boys” Joel Morina-Miranda, Michael Pedrosa and Julio Cesar Herrera continued their dominance of the international races and kept the West Indies Team flag flying high on the second day of the Beacon Insurance West Indies vs The World Cycling Series at Skinner Park, San Fernando.

The three-day cycling extravaganza organised by Phillips Promotions Limited, provided local cycling fans with top class races and fast exciting finishes on Saturday evening. And it was Cuba’s pursuit champion Morina-Miranda who provided the early excitement and whetted the diehard cycling fans’ appetite with his torrid pacing and superb finishing speed. He outsped Trinidad and Tobago 2002 Cyclist of the Year Elisha Greene and countryman Pedrosa in the Yoplait Yogurt six-lap International. With his indomitable strength and will-power, the 28-year-old prevailed in three minutes and 00.55 seconds.

Greene got some consolation and showed his class by outpedalling Pedrosa in the sprint to the finishing line as the West Indies team claimed all three top positions. On Friday night, the top local wheelsman was denied by bewildering tactics of  the Cubans in the opening race. But to show that he is in a special class, Morina-Miranda whipped his rivals in the Play Whe Elimination (Devil-Take-The Hindmost) Inter-national, five races later. He led home compatriot Pedrosa and Barbadian Carlitos Jones for another one-two-three for the powerful West Indies team.

Power and timing has been Pedrosa’s forte in his major successes in Trinidad and Tobago and he acquitted himself in supreme fashion as he shook off  former World Junior and four-time Pan-American match sprint champion Julio Cesar Herrera and Guyana’s ever-improving Tyrone Hamilton in the TIDCO-sponsored kieren international race. The World Team’s best riders were once again overshadowed by the regional cyclists who exerted complete mastery of the banked-concrete track. And it was a torrid race to the line between 21-year-old Pedrosa and 22-year-old Hamilton in the TIDCO four-lap international. Morina-Miranda took the bronze medal while Colombia’s Carlos Munroy filled fourth spot. Pedrosa clocked 1:50.25.

Finally, the West Indies team riders were split up for the medals in the gruelling 25-lap race. Morina-Miranda proved too much for the opposition, but it was United States-based Trinidadian Roger Farrell who has been like the lone ranger marking his own time and racing to suit the pace, who finally gave the home crowd something to shout about as he outstayed the racing pack in the final lap to collect the silver medal. Canada’s Glen Randall took the bronze as the stranglehold on all the medals by the West Indies team was finally broken.

The Cuban and West Indians riders took all first three top places at the two-day Southern Games and dominated every race on Friday night. However, the much anticipated Beacon Insurance Match Sprint title would go to a West Indies team rider plus the three medals. Guyana’s Hamilton made light work of United Kingdom’s Robin Thompson in the quarter-final ride off and will clash with TT’s Greene in the semi-final. Greene outclassed compatriot and national match sprint champion Clinton Grant.

Cuba’s Pedrosa and Herrera will face off in the other “Semis”. Pedrosa took care of Colombia’s Carlos Munroe while Herrera was too much for Canada’s Alexandre Maurius. Grant proved his worth over the Category One racers as he won both the Central Navigation Elimination and the Central Navigation five-lap events.  He whipped Ako Kellar and Mario Joseph in the Elimination (Devil Take the Hindmost) race. Joseph, who copped the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games bronze medal last year, reversed positions with Kellar in the thrilling six-lap race.