Manny leads field in 60-mile Cable and Wireless Challenge

BY DEAN GREENAWAY

Conrad “Manny” Emmanuel won his first BVI Cycling Federation race—Sunday’s 7th Cable and Wireless 60-mile Cycling Challenge—a three-lap a junt from Road Town to West End in 2 hours, 44 minutes and 06 seconds. The race attracted 26 participants

“I woke up this morning and I said ‘Manny needed to win today,’” Emmanuel said in his post race interview, then explained how the race unfolded by thanking Chris Ghiorse, 2nd in 2:44.15 and Miles Weiteman, 3rd in 2:44.15, for a great job. “Chris made the break while we were in the bunch and I decided to follow him. Then Miles made the second break and then we decided to team up and worked to get up here,” Emmanuel explained. “The guys encouraged me to stay on because I’ve not been training enough and I’m not as fit. I hang with these big guys and I can’t complain about this race. This is one of my best races since I’ve been riding in the BVI.”

Ghiorse who had a flat in West End but got a tire from Al Gauchi as part of their racing agreement whit which ever has a flat, described the race as ‘interesting.’ He said Weiteman worked with him to catch the lead group following his flat and he made his move halfway through the second lap after catching the field.

“Conrad made his move about the same time and with my experience, I felt it was his job to win the race today,” Ghiorse explained, noting he did not go for a sprint finish. “There were two main factors,” he noted. “Without Al giving me the wheel and without Miles working with me to catch the 7-8 riders that were up the road, I wouldn’t have been there. Conrad is on the BVI national team and he made the move to get to where I was. In my book, he won the race right there. Miles, a visitor understood and realized he had no chance if Conrad and I teamed up against him. I told him ‘you helped me, you’re going to take second place.’”

Emmanuel who has represented the BVI through out the region, said he had been placing as high as third, but was not finishing his attacks. “My folks kept saying ‘why don’t you quit riding because you are always coming third fourth or fifth place,’” Emmanuel said. “I proved to them today that I’m a winner. This race will encourage me because I believe there’s a lot of stamina in me.

Weiteman, visiting from Michigan, said it was a great race and a very nice course. “When you got pros in the field, it makes it very difficult, but it was a very fast race,” he noted. “There are really a bunch of good competitors. There were also a lot of attacks in the beginning of the race. It started out very fast, one attack after another. Phillipe (Leroy) he attacked. Chris then attacked, all you could do is just hang on,” Weiterman said. “They were going so fast, but there was really good support on the course as well.”

Federation president David Thomas said it was the biggest turnout for the year. “We had a new winner in Conrad Emmanuel, congratulations to him. I was really proud of him and impressed with the way he rode,” Thomas said. “I think and hope the top guys had it in the back of their minds that it was a qualifier for the OECS Championships in Antigua. It looks like everybody was trying to secure a spot, because there are only four spots open. The guys seemed to ride in teams to secure those spots and it was good to see. I thought everybody did an excellent job.”

Final results: 20 Miles; 1. David Thomas, 1 hour, 04 minutes and 37 seconds. 2. Archibald Christian, 1:13.28. 3. Cecil Leonard, 1:20.58. 4. Patlian Johnson, 1:20.58.

40 Miles: 1. Al Gauchi, 2:09.33. 2. Sam Tucker, 2:11.00. 3. Darel Christopher Jr., 2:12.26. 4. Akeel Burrows, 2:23.48. 5. Joe Giacinto, 2:23.54. 6. Tom Merrigan, 2:23.56.

60 Miles: 1. Conrad Emmanuel, 2:44.06. 2. Myles Weiteman, 2:44.15. 3. Chris Ghiorse, 2:44.15. 4. Mark Bailey, 2:50.29. 5. Darel Christopher Sr., 2:50.29. 6. Phillippe Leroy, 2:50.29. 7. Peter LeBlanc, 3:02.43. 8. Gareth Thomas, 3:02.46. 9. Steve Marsh, 3:02.46. 10. Erica Powers, 3:02.46. 11. Eldon Solomon, 3:02.53. 12. Jim Cullimore, 3:02.57. 13. Glenroy Forbes, 3:09.38. 14. Clifton Forbes, 3:11.59. Dnf. Neil Thomas and Mark McKenzie.