What cyclists say
about the 44-mile Tour de Tortola?
BY DEAN GREENAWAY
Louise DePuy, St. John U. S. Virgin Islands, 10th overall in 2002.
"I just thought 'That full course is really going to hurt me
today. Let me stick to something I know I'm capable of,'" she
explained of her decision to do the women's race in 2003. "Of
course when I finished, I thought 'Why didn't I do the full.' I've
been a couch potato lately and you got to have a lot of respect for
this course."
BVI Cycling Federation President
David Thomas.
"There's no easy course in doing Tour de Tortola. Once you have
to go up Windy Hill, it's going to kill you."
Phillippe Leroy, 2nd place finisher
Tour de Tortola 2003
"I couldn't climb well today," noted Leroy in his first
tour in three years. "It's as tough as before. I would love to
win it once. That would be nice."
Andrew Young, 2003 Champion
"It's a great race. Well
organized. But, I got a bit of a shock losing the time trial,"
he said. "I had to go home and think on how I'd outsmart
Phillippe. I tried to go fast and wear him down on the way to West
End and it paid off. He went hard through Steel Point. I caught him
going up Windy Hill as he faded a bit. From there on, it was trying
to get to the finish as fast as possible."
Tim Smith, St. Thomas, U. S. Virgin
Islands.
"Everything was so well organized. A great course but a little
bit difficult up Windy Hill. I wasn't passed, but the rest of the
course was kind of tough. I wished I could have done better, but
there were four of us that finished in about 16 seconds of each
other. It doesn't get more competitive than that."
Paul Hart, Gainesville, Florida
"The climbs were long and steep.
Windy Hill was just like a big climb we have in Gainesville, except
I was out in the middle of the ocean," said Hart who slipped
from third to seventh on the hill. "It was really hard and
there was some tough competition. Those guys are serious. They
definitely surprised me. From time we left Road Town there were
attacks. Everybody was in race mode for sure."
Joe Giacinto, Virgin Gorda, British
Virgin Islands 2002 tour
At 60, Joe Giacinto was the oldest participant in the field. "I
made a goal to knock half hour off last year's time, not beating
anybody-the clock and the course were my opposition," he
explained, after beating two participants. "That's the first
time. I've relinquished my last place position-definitely a bonus. I
can no longer claim that-I now have to do better."
John Miller 3-time champion, '98,
'01, '02 and course record holder of 2 hours, 08 minutes and 34
seconds established in 2002.
"After going through the off
road section of Steel Point, I saw an opening to the left and picked
up the pace a little bit," Miller said of the decisive move.
"It was the same torturous hill and route, but, I've been
training a bit and felt quite fit and it was whether or not the
competition showed up."
Jim Cullimore, Former BVI Cycling Federation President who
participated in all 10 tours
"Just finishing a tour is always
a highlight," he said. "I pushed myself very hard today. I
really wanted to win my division and I wanted a good result. I
wanted to be in the top 10. I achieved both today. But, the
competition has gotten better now than it used to be in the past. In
the past we had lots of recreational riders, people just going out
there to challenge themselves. But now the quality of riding is
improving so, to get in the top 10 nowadays you have to be pretty
good."
Erwin ‘Reds’
Telemaque had 20 points and eight steals, leading Show Time to a
76-70 triumph over Jr. Young Legs. Kyle Scatliffe chipped in 17.
Winston Farrington Jr. had 16 for Jr. Young Legs.
Randy ‘Chino’ George and Chaurbin Smith scored 19 and 18 points
as All Ah We trimmed the Rebels 62-58. Rebels’ Wayne ‘Baby
Fat’ Campbell scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half.
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