Stephen Mungroo is Three-Stage cycling champ
By Michael DaSilva
Stabroek News
May 17, 2004
Four of the six overall prize winners from this weekend's 22nd National Sports Commission-sponsored Three-Stage Cycle Road Race pose with NSC's chairman Laurie Lewis (centre), race organiser Hassan Mohamed (extreme right) and race coordinator Joseph Britt
Guyana-born Stephen Mungroo, captured top honours in the 22nd annual National Sports Commission (NSC)-sponsored, Three-Stage cycle road race which ended yesterday.
Officially Mungroo returned seven hours .03 minutes .05 seconds in winning the event from Tyrone Hamilton (7:03.10). Alex Mendes and Raymond Newton shared third place while Marlon Morrison and Junior Niles placed fifth and sixth respectively.
Notable absentees from this year's event were defending champion Andrew Reece, four-time winner Dwayne Gibbs, Gordon Kennedy, Marlon Williams and Vishnu Narine.
They all refused to comment on the reason for not participating in this year's event.
Hamilton won stages two and three while Mendes and Newton clocked 7:09.48 for third during yesterday's third stage.
Morrison returned 7:10.59 while Niles registered 7:12.13.
Mungroo won four of the eight prime prizes that were up for grabs while Newton took two and Gerald Fowler one.
Mungroo and Hamilton returned a bunch time of 2:52 for the third stage while Niles clocked 2:56.01 for third.
Approximately 10 miles into the final stage Mungroo attacked the pack, Hamilton and Alonzo Greaves responded almost immediately and connected to the leaders.
Fowler who followed, attacked while climbing the second hill and took the first prime but that caused his demise because it was Hamilton and Mungroo who stepped up the pace soon after and dropped him.
Greaves was next to feel the pressure and he too dropped off and was swallowed up by the chasing pack before the riders exited the Linden Highway.
Once on the East Bank carriageway, the two leaders were never caught or seriously challenged.
As they turned into the homestretch, Mungroo `upped' but Hamilton responded and surged ahead 75 metres before the finish line and went on to win the stage, narrowly edging out Mungroo.
At the conclusion of the race Mungroo said he knew that he would have at least have to place a very close second to Hamilton if he is to stand a chance of winning the overall race and he did just that.
"Me and Tyrone worked as a team throughout the three stages and we shared the stage prizes," Mungroo said.
The naturalised Trinidadian said himself and Hamilton weakened the bunch while climbing the hills during the third stage and finished them off on the flat East Bank roadway.
Asked why he kicked off the pace nearing the finish of the second stage on Saturday, allowing Hamilton to surge ahead of him and win the stage, Mungroo said "we are a team and we rode as a team so we have to share the stage prizes."
Mungroo first rode the three-stage event 10 years ago but fell and injured himself during the first stage and opted out.
Three years ago, he placed third overall then won the 181.3-mile event yesterday.
Asked how it feels being a Guyanese by birth and winning as a naturalised Trinidadian, Mungroom simply said "it's just another race."
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, race organiser Hassan Mohamed congratulated the top finishers and thanked the members of the Guyana Police Force Traffic department for doing a splendid job throughput the course. He also thanked members of the media and officials for a splendid job.
National Sports Commis-sion chairman Laurie Lewis joined Mohamed in congratulating the respective winners and complimenting the Police traffic department for a fine job, but offered special congratulations to Commissioner of Police Winston Felix in the steps taken tp make the event a trouble and hazard free one.