By Neto Baptiste
Veterans Robert Marsh and Lindsay Duffy are the new male and female title holders in the Antigua and Barbuda Cycling Federation (ABCF) Individual Time Trial, while Emmanuel Gayral and Venessa Kelsick reigned supreme in the men’s and women’s division of the Individual Road Race, all held over the weekend.
Marsh, of East Side Raiders, clocked 37 minutes and 28.20 seconds (38:28.20) to finish ahead of the field in a competitive event held on Saturday, while Duffy, representing Road Runners Cycling Club, posted 25:21.22 to out-pedal her competitors in the women’s category.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Marsh said that although he won comfortably in the end, the event was still a challenging one.
“The effort that I put in, yes, it was a hard effort because in a time trial you’re not sure exactly where the other person is and how close they are to you, so you have to really go all out if you want to win. On the course, when I crossed with Jeffery [Kelsick], we crossed like three times and by the second time I knew that I was ahead,” he said.
Jeffery Kelsick and Ghere Coates were second and third, respectively, in the Elite category.
Meanwhile Duffy, who finished ahead of her Road Runners teammate Cathia Christopher, welcomed the win but noted that her main rival — Venessa Kelsick — did not take part in Saturday’s race.
“If you do a time trial it’s you against the clock so you always give your hardest efforts and so I did that on Saturday. I didn’t have my nemesis to compete with, Venessa was missing so it might have been a different story but I enjoyed it; it was a good race,” she said.
In Sunday’s road race, Gayral of Team Terminix clocked 3:00.17.95 to beat teammates Jeffery Kelsick and Sean Weathered into second and third respectively, while Venessa Kelsick posted 2:00:37.48 seconds to win the women’s equivalent.
Gayral, who has been riding in Italy, said he was hoping to compete against the country’s other overseas-based riders.
“I was looking forward to competing and racing against [Jyme Bridges] but in future races we will and we will see exactly what the performances are like. And also, to my team, they are really putting a lot of effort into it and they are really pushing me to the next level,” the young cyclist said.
Speaking also on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Venessa was thankful for the performance she was able to put in given the limited amount of time she’s had on the bike over the past weeks.
“I actually did not get a chance to prepare much for this race and I actually had considered not racing because since the last race I did, I was only able to get on the bike four or five times for the month, including the race, but the thing for me is that when I train, I make every ride count,” she said.
In Sunday’s road race, Duffy finished second in the women’s category. Joyce Murray-Watkins of Wadadli Cycling Academy captured the women’s division of the Cadets Class in both the time trial and road race while Tahje Browne was best in the men’s equivalent on both days.
The junior division was dominated by Chasondre Tonge, also of Wadadli Cycling Academy, while Delvin Peters and Omari King captured the Masters and Sports Class respectively. Jason Adams won the Sports Class of the time trial.