V.I. Cycling Federation Holds Fourth of July Race

The July 4th “Crit” race was a first for the Virgin Islands Cycling Federation (VICF). The Sport category was off to a great start with nine cyclists following behind a pace car for the first of four laps, which was a control lap. Joseph Thomas, a seasoned cyclist, who was followed closely by Bevern Sage Jr., led the pack for most of the way through the race before the young Sage took advantage of a mistake and pedaled away to victory finishing the 4-mile race in a time of 12:42.
A less crowded field of expert cyclists readied themselves on the starting line for the second of the three category three distances event. Of the four cyclists who started, a trio of Juancito Gario, Eddie Nolan and Miguel Cruz kept it together through the seven-lap event. A real display of talent was put on for the spectators who lined the streets of Frederiksted and cheered for their favorite cyclists that they could only identify by the colors of their jerseys. It was very tactical and explosive cornering that gave Eddie Nolan the advantage as he turned from Hill Street onto King Street and found Gario and Cruz hustling to bridge the small gap. In the end, the gap proved to be too difficult to bridge and Nolan captured the win in a time of 20:00, with Gario 20:01 and Cruz 20:02 for second and third, respectively.
The excitement was now at its peak ‘Apol’ Apolinar Acevedo Jr. has made it back to racing after being absent for the past few races. The Elite race was on. The pace was hot but not hot enough for ‘JJ’ Jonaton Cruz, who just last Sunday captured a win in the Angel Encarnacion Road Race. Cruz dug in and Mark Defour followed creating a break in the field of six that lasted through to the finish before being edged in spectacular sprint finish by Defour. With first and second place already secured, third place was still up for grabs. Acevedo was aware of this and sprinted to the finish line, but Narian Gentius was also aware and denied Acevedo a podium place in his comeback race.
A special thanks goes to sponsor Choice Wireless for making this event possible; to the men and women of VIPD for their support, having the roads blocked and keeping traffic at bay for the duration of the event; and to the volunteers who helped in registration, timing and spotting.