| From the BVI Cycling Federation Jason Bally Memorial Bermuda’s Chris Hedges out sprinted St. Martin’s Nipau Serge to win Sunday’s Jason Bally Memorial 100K, ending Antigua's two time defending champion Godfrey Pollydore’s winning streak. St. Croix’s Sue Brown defended her woman’s crown.
Hedges, 23, a five time Bermuda national champion with three NCAA titles under his belt, said he wasn’t aggressive early because he was feeling things out. “I tend to do well if things thin out and I didn’t want it to come down to a sprint with some strong sprinters like Pollydore and a few other riders,” Hedges explained. “I definitely was looking for the break. Trouble was, I was marked and when I broke everyone chased and if I didn’t go nothing happened. When three riders broke early and opened a 2-minute lead going into the hills, I was a little worried. I though 2 minutes was a good amount of time. I wasn’t going to chase them down and let Pollydore sit. But, the opportunity came to attack heading to the final three circuits. I just put my head down and went.” Brown said the race was just as hard as last year. “It was brutal and challenging,” Brown said. “I’m glad it’s over. I actually felt a little dizzy on the hills out to the college and I thought I wouldn’t have made it back, but I calmed myself down and paced myself but I felt weird on the hills at first.” “It was by far the biggest race we’ve ever had and the level of competition we had was incredible,” Cycling Federation President David Thomas said of the 75 participants. “The guys we had here were just a step above any body we’ve raced before. Antigua’s Robert Marsh has improved tremendously. Guyana’s Marlon Williams who finished third is only 16 and he’s really good. Chris Hedges, he’s the first pro rider we had in here and showed why his resume spoke so highly of him.”
An accident that threw St. Kitts’ Shannon Fitzgerald out the women’s road bike division left Thomas disturbed. “I was disappointed with our drivers and the one in particular that caused a stupid accident. We had the information on the radio, everyone knew we had this race and people coming in,” Thomas said. “It doesn’t speak well for the BVI. When you’re going to hit one of our overseas guest, that’s one of the sour spots of the race today.” Final results, Road Bikes Men: 1. Chris Hedges, Bermuda, 2 hours, 38 minutes and 24 seconds. 2. Nipau Serge, St. Martin, 2:38.25. 3. Marlon Williams, Guyana, 2:41.56. 4. Godfrey Pollydore, Antigua, 2:41.56. 5. Andrew Reese, Guyana, 2:41.56. 6. Robert Marsh, Antigua, 2:41.57. 7. Danny Donleon, Antigua, 2:41.58. 8. Phillippe Leroy, BVI, 2:51.02. 9. Bobby Simon, Antigua, 2:51.35. 10. Ronnie Bryan, Anguilla, 2:51.55. 11. Dominique Ollivere, St. Vincent, 2:51.56. 12. Ken Jackson, Antigua, 2:51.56. 13. Vinesh Narine, Guyana, 2:51.56. 14. Gordon Kennedy, Guyana, 2:51.56. 15. George Carty, St. Martin, 2:51.56. 16. Benjamin Jean Claude, St. Martin, 2;56.31. 17. Edward Benitez, St. Martin, 2:57.33. 18. Royston Stevens, St. Kitts, 2:58.11. 19. Patrick Peters, Antigua, 3:05.05. 20. Victor Chance, St. Martin, 3:06.24. 21. Keith Jones, nevis, 3:09.17. 22. Neil Thomas, BVI, 3:09.17. 23. John Riggs, St. Croix, 3:09.19. 24. Chris Ghiorse, BVI, 3:14.28. 25. David Thomas, BVI, 3:20.34. 26. Tryone Vanterpool, Anguilla, 3:24.58. 27. Steven Burkholder, St. John, 3:24.58. 28. Peter Alter, St. John, 3:34.11. 29. Kevin Lenahan, St. Thomas, 3:38.47. 30. Gabriel Juminez, St. Thomas, 3:49.86. Women: 1. Sue Brown, St. Croix, 2:58.09. 2. Louise Depuy, St. John, 3:25.07. 3. Melanie Gulimatico, St. Kitts, 3:51.54.
Mountain Bikes, Men: 1. Laurens Blok, 2:42.10. 2. Clifton Forbes, 2:42.29. 3. Anthony Walters, 2:54.07. 4. Manesseh Phillips, 2:55.50. 5. Tom Merrigan, 3:23.17. Women: 1. Sarah Eades, 2:58.12. 2. Victoria Ghiorse, 3:19.06. 3. Patlian Johnson, 3:21.59. 4. Jodie Tanino, St. John, 3:51.54. Fun/Novice: 1. Ian Thomas, 1:03.49. 2. Ray Learmouth, 1:07.59. 3. Eldon Solomon, 1:10.05. 4. Mark McKenzie, 1:22.00. 5. Akeem Gumbs, 1:27.50. 6. Nelso Bell, 1:27.51. 7. Deverson Alexander, 1:32.31. 8. Darel Christopher Jr. 1:38.13. 9. Ashwil Christopher, 1:40.08. 10. Tramore Frazer, 1:40.22. 11. Hank Vejeer, Jr., 2:03.01. Hank Vejeer Sr., 2:03.08. Women: Karen Vanterpool, 1:44.55.
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