The Cayman Classic cycling series may have reached its midway point last Sunday, but the competition is still far from decided.
The third event of the series was a circuit race, with cyclists racing for 45 minutes plus three laps around a course that took them between the Island Heritage roundabout and the Lime Tree Bay roundabout. With two roundabout to negotiate of every lap, as well as the bridge over the Ritz canal, the route provided plenty of challenges for the cyclists.
Minister of Sports Mark Scotland was there to set the cyclists on their way as he led them around the course on a neutral lap before the racing started.
From the start it was clear that the leading contenders wanted to whittle the lead group down to a manageable level as quickly as possible. One of the early casualties of the high pace was former series leader Michael Stomps who missed the first selection and could not get back on terms with the front group.
The front group was soon whittled down to series leader Steve Abbott, Michele Smith, Jerome Ameline, Marius Deysel, Perri Merren, James Webb and Michael Vernon. This group managed to build up a substantial lead over the rest of the field, but the pace soon started telling on Merren, Vernon and Webb as they dropped off the pace. This left four leaders at the head of the field, including the top three contenders for overall glory in the series in Abbott, Smith and Ameline.
There were two sprint laps with points on offer for the top three cyclists to cross the line. These laps were announced by the ringing of a bell at random during the race, with the points counting towards a separate sprints competition and not towards the overall points tally for the series.
Having claimed the two sprints on offer in the first event of the series, Ameline was keen on gathering up as many points as he could this time around as well and claimed both sprints with ease as the rest of the leading group showed little interest in contesting, rather saving their strength for the final sprint.
Meanwhile in the women’s race Risa Golberg managed to hang onto the tail of the chasing bunch the longest, but after dropping off was soon joined again by Pam Abbott, Donna Harding and Carien Roberts-Harcombe, who were working together to bring her back. However, later during the race Golberg managed to hook onto some of the cyclists who had been dropped from the lead group and pulled clear of the other three ladies, who continued to race their own race.
In the masters’ division, series leader Gabe Rabess was clearly stronger than the rest, with Jacob Luttermann the only other competitor in the division able to come even close to challenging him, while Laurent Weber and Chris Sutton slipped off the pace.
As the four leaders crossed the start/finish line after 45 minutes the bell was rung indicating the final three laps of the race. Abbott immediately tried to gap the rest and managed to open up a small gap on Ameline and Deysel, with Smith glued to his wheel. However, Smith was not committed to the move as he was confident of his chances in a bunch sprint, so it quickly fizzled as the top four came back together.
In the run up to the line Smith rocketed clear of his breakaway companions with ease, taking time to celebrate as he crossed the line. A hard-sprinting Ameline, sprinting up far the right of Smith, took second, while Deysel managed to take third from Abbott in fourth.
Among the women, Golberg was clear of the rest of the competitors as she crossed the line for first in the division. However, confusion reigned for the group contesting second place as they were lapped by the leading group during the final lap, which meant that as they crossed the line they thought they still had a lap to race. This meant that they cruised across the line not contesting the sprint, only to be told that the race was over. After some deliberation post race, it was decided to award equal second place to Abbott, Harding and Roberts-Harcombe.
In the masters’ division, Rabess took his third win of the series with ease, with Luttermann coming home in second and Sutton rounding out the podium in third.
Derron Kelly was the only junior to complete the tough event. The results meant that in the junior division, Derron Kelly now has 43 points and took over the lead from Andy Diaz who remained on 25 points.
In the masters’ division Rabess tightened his hold on the blue Cayman Islands Helicopters jersey building his total to 75 points, with Weber remaining in second on 46 points, just one point ahead of Luttermann in third on 45.
In the women’s division Golberg held onto the purple Cayman Islands Helicopters jersey for the third week with 62 points, with Roberts-Harcombe hanging on to second with 54 points ahead of Harding on 45 points.
In the men’s competition the red Cayman Islands Helicopters jersey finds its third home in as many weeks with Smith moving into the lead on 58 points, with Abbott in second on 52 and Ameline in third on 48.
The fourth event in the series will take place on Sunday 20 May and take the form of a 10 mile individual time trial. The event will start and finish in front of Paradise Grill on South Church Street, with the route taking cyclists down South Sound to the turnaround point just short of the Grand Harbour roundabout. Cyclists will set off at one minute intervals in reverse order of the series standings.
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