Easter Cycling Classic off to a blistering start

Sherdon Pierre

Jabari Whiteman cycled away with the 30 lap main event on the opening night of the NLCB sponsored Madonna Wheelers Cycling Club`s Easter Cycling Classic 2018 at the brilliantly lit Arima Velodrome on Friday.

Whiteman (Team DPS), who is still a junior cyclist, produced a superb performance to claim the 30-lap event, which was competed at rapid pace despite its length much to the delight of the hundreds of spectators at the velodrome. The 17-year-old Whiteman, found a sudden burst of energy to breakaway from other cyclist with 250 metres left in the race. Barbadian Jamol Eastmond was outstanding throughout the evening but had to settle for second place while Joshua Alexander (Team Raiders) took the bronze medal.

Eastmond was the top male performer on the night by winning the Men’s Elite 1 Keirin and 10-lap event. In the 3 lap Keirin Final, Eastmond sneaked through the inside lane with 300 metres left in the race to claim the lead on the straightway and from then onwards it was no stopping him. The talented Whiteman edged Adam Alexander (Team Foundation) on the line to grab the silver medal. Despite leading for majority of the race TT`s Quincy Alexander and the race favourite finished in last place. Eastmond secured his second gold medal of the evening when he defeated Alexander and Tyler Cole (DPS) in the Men`s Elite 1 10 laps.

The Elite Women Elimination saw a thrilling finish with the dominant Jamaican Dahlia Palmer (Team DPS) grabbing the first place over Keiana Lester (Rigtech Sonics) in a close finish whilst Alexi Costa (Heatwave) placed third. However, the Costa sisters got their revenge later in the evening when Jessica (Heatwave) peddled away with the top prize in the Women Elite 10-lap event. Her sister Alexi placed second while, Lester claimed the bronze medal. Lester is returning to competitive cycling for the first time in 15 months after her horrific head-on collision with a vehicle while training in south in December 2016.

The most exciting race and the closest race of the evening was the Men`s Elite 2 4-lap event. Donnell Harrison (Rigtech Sonics) led from very early and maintained a sizeable lead throughout race until Ronnell Woods (PSL), in a desperate last lap effort, erased the gap but Harrison held on in the end to win in the narrowest of margins. Myles Burnette (Phoenix) was a distant third place.

Judah Neverson (Rigtech Sonics) and Kyra Williams (Open Road) were exceptional in their Under 13 events as they both won two gold medals each.