Veteran Rider Emile Abraham, who has ridden in every event that Phillips Promotions has promoted since 1987, is again one of the cyclists for the return of the ‘Cycling on the Avenue’ event that starts at 7 pm tonight in front of Mikes Bikes on Ariapita Avenue.
It will begin with a duathlon for boys and girls in primary and secondary schools. For the primary schools, it will be a 400-metre run, a 1.3-kilometre bike ride, and a 400-metre run, while the secondary schools’ duathlon will feature an 800-metre run, a 2.6-kilometre ride, and an ending 800-metre run again.
It will then continue with a two-lap sprint race for division 1 and 2 riders with the feature 30-lap race to follow.
At a media briefing at Mike’s Bikes Shop, on Tuesday Abraham, a multiple-times road race champion, named a list of riders that makes up a strong Pharmaco team, inclusive of USA’s Andrew Scarano, Brian Musum, Caleb Landgrebe, T&T’s four-time Olympian Njisane Phillip and rising talent Lyndel Samaroo, who, though he is a junior rider, will be asked to compete amongst the division 1 field. Abraham said that the decision rests with the organizers.
US rider Stephanie Clark will also team up with Makaira Wallace, a silver medallist in the women’s keirin and a bronze medal in the women’s 500-metre time trial at the UCI 2023 Junior Track World Championships in Cali, Colombia in August, will be among the field in the women’s division.
Their biggest competitors will come from Team Raiders, which will feature Mateo Castaneda of Colombia, Anthony Leon Cortis of Guyana, Hasani Hennis of Anguilla, Jamaul John of Guyana, brothers Joshua and Adam Alexander of T&T, and Juan Velez Pimitel of the Dominican Republic among others.
Event organiser Michael Phillips, who told the media a few days ago that there will be a cultural side to his event, also announced that ‘Hearts’ the carnival band, will be featured during the event tonight. The cyclists got a taste of what to expect from Hearts when two masqueraders evaded the press briefing for photos.
The cyclists later took pictures of the masqueraders, with expectations of much more to come Wednesday.
