Harris pedals to hat-trick at Fire on Wheels

RIGTECH SONICS cyclist, D’Angelo Harris, captured a hat-trick of Junior titles following two days of intense competition at the 2019 Fire on Wheels event which climaxed at the National Cycling Velodrome, Couva last evening.

On the opening day on Saturday, Harris showcased his athletic prowess by capturing gold in the Junior Men’s Sprint. He then backed up his dominant display with impressive victories in the Junior Men Scratch Race and Elimination races yesterday.

Holding on to silver in the Scratch was Tariq Woods (Team Woods) and receiving bronze was Rodell Woods (PSL). Harris also crossed the line ahead of Tariq (silver) and Southclaine’s Joshua Rawlins (bronze) respectively in the Elimination.

Last evening’s feature event, Men’s Keirin, saw Mexican Edgar Verdugo hold off a last-lap fight from eventual silver medallist, American Sandor Delgado, and third-placed Canada’s Nick Wammes.

In the women’s equivalent, USA’s reigning Women’s Sprint champion, Mandy Marquardt, continued her dominance of the local track by trumping Jamaican Dahlia Palmer and Colombian Marianna Hererra respectively.

On day one, Marquardt shattered the National Cycling Velodrome Flying 200m Women’s record by producing a blistering 11.067 second performance.

Marquardt shaved 0.029 seconds off Colombia’s Marta Bayona’s previous record in the qualification round and followed up her scintillating performance by going on to capture gold in the Women’s Sprint.

In the final, Marquardt made light work of Sarah Orban, defeating the Canadian in two straight rides. Grabbing bronze was Marianna Herrera (Colombia) ahead of Jamaica’s Dahlia Palmer (Team DPS). In the Men’s Sprint final, Christian Tamayo (Colombia) pulled off a valiant comeback against Nick Wammes (Canada) after losing the first of the three-race final.

On both occasions, Tamayo smartly utilised the gradient of the track to perfectly time his pursuit to snatch the gold ahead of Wammes.

In the bronze medal ride-off, American Sandor Delgado proved a cut above Mexico’s Edgar Verdugo by trumping the Mexican in straight rides.

Meanwhile, this year’s Pan American Games Madison champions, Chile, had to settle for silver this time around as Russians Arthur Ershov and Maksim Piskunov battled to a golden finish.

Additionally, PSL Cycling club’s Akil Campbell fell just two points short of a medal in the men’s Omnium as he completed his four races in fourth position on 111 points. Grabbing top honours and a heap of precious International Cycling Union (UCI) points towards his World Championship and Olympic qualification campaign was American Daniel Holloway (160 pts), followed by silver medallist and countryman Shane Kline (126 pts) and bronze receiver Jackson Kinniburgh (113 pts).