Three-in-one Easter cycling event begins at Skinner Park

An eight-member team comprising Phoebe Sandy, Kyrah Williams, Akil Campbell, Darnell James, Jadian Neaves, Liam Trepte, veteran Adam Alexander, and Tariq Woods will represent the red, white, and black of T&T at the combined Easter International Cycling Grand Prix, the Caribbean Track Cycling Championships, and the Americas Track Cycling Championships, all wrapped in one event.

The event pedals off on Friday (March 3) at Skinner Park, San Fernando, and continues at the National Cycling Centre (NCC) on Saturday (March 4) and Sunday (March 5).

At the launch of the event at the National Cycling Centre (NCC) in Balmain, Couva, yesterday, it was announced that the event received official approval from the sport’s world governing body, the International Cycling Union (UCI), in January, and apart from the frills of development and increased participation at international events, it will also make qualification for major international events easier, via much-needed UCI points that will be available.

The launch featured some of the biggest names and supporters of the sport in T&T and the region, such as the T&T Cycling Federation president, Rowena Williams, who later revealed the names of the local team; Ronshun Hackshaw, representative of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs who filled in for Minister Phillip Watts; cyclist Jadian Neaves; and other officials of the Jamaican and United States teams.

The history of the events was given at the launch, with the first edition of the Caribbean Track Championships being held in 2015 in Cuba, and it came to T&T in 2022. This is the second time it is being staged here in the twin-island Republic.

In 2015, Aziza Brown, Jody Goodridge, and Varun Marajh walked away with two medals each on the opening day of the inaugural regional track event, with the men’s sprint trio of Quincy Alexander, Jude Codrington, and Justin Roberts securing the gold medal. Thereafter, the team of Brown and Goodridge returned to the tracks to claim the silver medal in the women’s sprint.

In that same event, the women’s 500-metre time trial event, Brown was seen claiming the silver medal, while Goodridge took home the bronze. And later in the men’s team pursuit, the quartet of Marajh, Campbell, James Hadeed, and Garvin Nero snatched the silver medal.

Meanwhile, America’s Track Cup Series, known as the Copa America de Pista, is a continental series created to encourage participation of all national federations of the Pan American Cycling Confederation; foster the development of the discipline through an annual series that allows cyclists to compete continuously and accumulate points for the UCI ranking, facilitating qualification for top-level world events; establish a sustainable continental calendar in line with economic possibilities; and contribute to the development of young cyclists of the continent.

Its first staging will be at the NCC at the weekend before it moves to April 9-10 in Colombia. The third event, or the third series, is set for May 15-16 in Santiago, Chile, which will be a class one event. From May 23 to 24, the event will shift to Peru, quickly to be followed by another on May 28-29 in Paraguay, while August 9-10 will take the event to Brazil.