Whither cycling?
Sports Scope...Our Opinion
Stabroek News
May 18, 2004
The 22nd Annual National Sports Commission (NSC)-sponsored Three-Stage Cycle Road Race has come and gone. But the memories of the event will live long in the thoughts of some cycling enthusiasts.
While it was accident-free, it was not free of speculation as to why defending champion Andrew Reece, four-time champion Dwayne Gibbs and a number of other cyclists boycotted the most prestigious event on the NSC's cycling calendar.
Reports were that the cyclists boycotted the event because the prize money that was up for grabs was too meagre. Other reports said the cyclists did not want to ride their treasured machines on the roads, given their current poor state and the cost of racing-cycle parts. Yet others put it down to sheer wickedness on the part of the boycotters.
None of the cyclists who boycotted the event wanted to comment officially on the issue. However, Sportscope has been reliably informed that the main reason for their non-participation was the prize money. Sources also told Sportscope that the accommodation provided was another reason why cyclists stayed away.
These sources questioned the cash prizes for each of the three stages and the overall prize was so small, in the face of the sum budgeted for the event.
According to race organizer, Hassan Mohamed, he received just over $600,000 to stage this year's event. Costs tied to the event included paying to transport the participants and their cycles to Corriverton, paying the cyclists' fare by ferry to and from New Amsterdam, providing them with three meals (dinner on Friday and breakfast and lunch on Saturday) and buying petrol for the officials' vehicles.
While Mohamed was unable to give a full breakdown on the prize structure for this year's event, one participant said the winner, second and third-placed finishers for stages one and two received $3,500, $3,000 and $2,500 respectively, while the top three finishers in the third stage collected $4,500, $3,500 and $3,000 respectively. He said the overall winner received $50,000, while the second-placed-finisher collected $40,000. This was confirmed by Mohamed.
Seasoned participants revealed that over a number of years they had been made to sleep on desks and benches prior to contesting the 181.3-mile gruelling event. In addition, they had no or limited bathroom facilities at the end of the first stage.
"This is 22 years now. When it gun get better? Then Laurie Lewis talking bout a tour of Guyana, duh is more punishment. These people think they can do wah they want all the time" one cyclist stated.
Critics have commented that while the cyclists found themselves in such a situation for the past 22 years, they should be reminded that school athletes have been enduring similar hardships with regard to sleeping accommodation for the past 45 years.
However, it must be noted that cycling is an expensive sport; cyclists have to upkeep their bodies by eating healthy, nutritious foods, using vitamin supplements and working out.
They also have to upkeep their cycles; buying the costly brand-name parts, since using anything else could affect the efficiency of their machines.
Given the current difficulty in finding sports sponsorship in general, the boycott is understandable. Sportscope feels it is time that administrators of the sport and cyclists decide whether it is worth the struggle.