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MARIGOT—The region's top cycling teams are set to contest this coming weekend's third edition of the Nagico to Nagico Cycling Race that starts Friday with a 2.5K time trial.
An overview of the race was provided Monday evening at a press conference convened by Velo Club de Grand Case (VCG) and attended by cycling fan Préfet Philippe Chopin, Vice-President Wendel Cocks, Territorial Councillor in charge of sports, Alain Gros-Desormeaux, as well as representatives from main sponsor Nagico.
Registration was not yet complete for the race but it was estimated some 60 riders would be competing from Guadeloupe, Martinique, Anguilla, French Guiana and St. Martin/St. Maarten. French Quarter wonder boy Jayson Rousseau, now an international rider of repute who finished second in a race in France just recently, will be defending his Nagico title won at last year's edition.
"I must thank VCG for working tirelessly over the years to bring this sport to wider recognition," said Nagico Marketing Supervisor Lisa Brown. "Sport is something that joins the community, joins different cultures, and joining French and Dutch sides is one way of giving back to the community. We HOPE this edition will be another success again and we are very proud to be the main sponsor."
The time trial Friday evening takes place on the Causeway Bridge starting at 7:00pm with riders departing at 40 second intervals. Saturday's first 80K race starts from Angel's Insurance in French Quarter at 8:15am for eight laps of a circuit to Oyster Pond. That will be followed by a 42K race for the Under 16 (Cadet) riders at 11:00am starting from, and finishing at Angel's Insurance.
The afternoon at 3:00pm sees another individual time trial, this time a 5K sprint starting in Sucker Garden at Steven's Bar and finishing near the top of Cay Hill.
On Sunday the 123k race for the seniors will begin at 8:15am, as it did last year, from the Nagico headquarters in Philipsburg, following the same course as last year with the finish at Nagico in Rue de la République, Marigot.
VCG President St. Elmo Arnell presented the jerseys the riders will vie for. They included jerseys for the best riders in the Minimes and Cadet categories, Best Team jersey sponsored by Society Transport Maritime Caribbean (STMC), Best Young Rider sponsored by Monster Garage, Best Climber (polka dot) sponsored by DLETS and SDL, and Leader's Jersey (not yellow but in Nagico green and white colours) sponsored by Nagico.
Vice-President of the Collectivité Wendel Cocks thanked Nagico and the other sponsors for continuing the partnership with VCG while Alain Gros-Desormeaux emphasised his wish for a safe race with maximum security in place.
Préfet Chopin who will present trophies on Sunday said he was particularly pleased to see two youth categories being included in the race.
On that point St. Elmo Arnell noted the good performance of young VCG riders in Guadeloupe last weekend. In Thursday's 63K race Alban Clerc finished 14th, Kimani Weinum finished 21st and Adelio Brooks further down the standings. Clerc finished 5th in the 72K race on Saturday with Kimani in 6th place and Adelio Brooks in 16th.
"This was a high level race with a pack of 81 riders so they did very well," commented Arnell. "They are beginning to imitate the big league. The race was uphill, downhill, and pretty technical so at times my heart was in my mouth watching them. But we managed to survive and I'm very proud of them."
