Denver Alphonse topped a field of 20 athletes to win the closely-contested National Cycling Road Race and Time Trial on Sunday. Alphonse took the title by a split-second over Gillan Moses on the Millennium Highway, Castries.
The cyclists included five Under-17 riders, three competitors from Trinidad & Tobago and one female. They rode an eight-kilometre loop from Sol Gas Station to the Owen King EU Hospital Roundabout, back to the Cul De Sac Roundabout, and completed the lap at the gas station.
The senior riders covered 103.9 km, with Alphonse crossing the line in 3:08:32.95, separated from Moses (3:08:32.96) only by a photo-finish. Fidel Esnard was third in 3:08:39.50, and defending champion Eltus Joseph was fourth. Only eight of the 15 starters concluded the race in rainy, cool conditions at 7 a.m.
“Some people were concerned about the rain but we had to go through,” said Cycling Association president Cyril Mangal. “It’s a nice race course. Some motorists need to be patient. Generally the race was safe. We need to do some training with the police; traffic can be managed better.”
Alphonse, 18 this year, and two of the top eight seniors were under 23 years old. Among the Under-17s, Gideon Louis finished the 48 km course in 1:50:14.48. The sole female, Seraphina Williams, was second in 1:55:37.91 and Joshua Celestin of St Mary’s College third in 2:07:02.56.
Overall, Mangal was pleased with the performances. But he noted that there was room for improvement from some of the Elite riders.
“I thought the race could have been faster, especially for Denver. He is in good condition,” Mangal said. “He was marked and was not attacking early enough on the climbs. Had he been attacking from the bottom of the 2km climb he would have been able to get away and finish ahead of these guys at least a minute ahead. He complained he was being boxed in by Winston Williams [but] needs to be more aggressive and assertive.
“Gillan Moses is coming on nicely and will get better. He will be at the Tour the Martinique [in early July]. Eltus Joseph did well considering the level of training he has done. He had a small issue which kept him from training as he would have liked, that is behind him now.
“Fidel Esnard is strong, but he is weak on technical skills. [If] he loses more weight, he is up there.
“Seraphina Williams from Beanfield, Vieux Fort had a good race. She has to improve technically. She had a good race and I like what I see. As long as she works on the technical aspect she can do good things. A good female prospect,” Mangal added.
