Guyana is hosting the Caribbean Elite and Under-23 Cycling Championship for the first time, with races beginning early on Saturday.
The event is organised in collaboration with the Caribbean Cycling Union (CCU) and the Pan American Cycling Confederation. It features top cyclists from 20 Caribbean nations competing in elite male and female categories.
These Caribbean nations include Anguilla, Barbados, Bermuda, Belize, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Suriname.
In his address on Friday at the Park Vue Hotel, Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sport Charles Ramson Jr, emphasised that while this is the country’s first time hosting such a major cycling event, it will not be the last.
He urged participants to make the most of this opportunity to advance their athletic careers.
“Some of you are already knocking at the Olympic level or the tour of the France level or have those ambitions as part of your immediate or medium-term timelines and for that, I wish you all the best,” he said.
The minister also encouraged cyclists to consider Guyana a welcoming home throughout the competition, assuring them that every effort would be made to enhance their experience.
Sharing his expectation for the continued growth of the sport, the President of the Guyana Cycling Federation, Horace Burrowes said, “This country is capable of promoting sports, and this event would not be possible without the unity of our executive members.”
The two-day championship began on Saturday with the Women’s Elite 85km Road Race on the Mandela/Eccles/Heroes Highway circuit, followed by the Men’s Individual Time Trials at 11:00 am on the same route.
On Sunday, the Men’s 155km Individual Road Race will start from the Linden Highway, extending along the East Bank Corridor and finishing at the Heroes Highway circuit.
The event will conclude with the Women’s Individual Time Trials on the same course. DPI
