G-Flow’s Giovanni Lovell conquers National Road Cycling Championship

Photo Credit: Cycling Federation of Belize

By Rubén Morales Iglesias: G-Flow’s Giovanni Lovell conquered the National Road Cycling Championship from Orange Walk to Mount Hope in Cayo organized by the Cycling Federation of Belize on Sunday with his team taking four of the top six spots.

Lovell clocked 4 hours, 21 minutes, and 37 seconds (4:21:37) for the 103-mile race that started in Orange Walk Town on the Philip Goldson Highway and headed to Ladyville where it turned into the John Smith Road passing by the Philip Goldson International Airport, come out on the George Price Highway by Western Paradise at Mile 8, and headed for the finish at Mount Hope in Unitedville in the Cayo District.

Lovell rode across the finish line in solo fashion, three minutes and a second (0:03:01) ahead of his closest competitor, his teammate Jyven Gonzalez, the first Under-23 rider, who was timed at 4:24:38.

Incidentally, this year’s race was sixteen miles longer than last year’s race which was run entirely in the Belize District between Crooked Tree and the John Smith Road and won by Justin Williams.

Earlier, Lovell had bridged a two minutes and 20 seconds gap to join the breakaway group comprised of Westrac Alliance’s Eric Trapp, 501 Valvoline Cycling Team’s Derrick Chavarria, and his teammates G-Flow’s Jyven Gonzalez and Shawn Codd way ahead of the Belmopan junction. They were also joined by Westrac Alliance’s Wasani Castro who had tagged along with Lovell.

Lovell then got away from the group.

Trapp did quite a bit of work in the chase group trying to bridge the gap, but Codd and Gonzalez would not help because their man, Lovell, was up front. Adding to G-Flow’s advantage, Castro got dropped.

In the end, Lovell’s lead was so big the rest just couldn’t catch up and each rode in individually across the finish line.

Trapp, the 2nd U-23 cyclist, rode in third in 4:24:56; 0:03:19 behind Lovell.

Fourth place was taken by Chavarria, third in the U-23, in 4:25:12; 0:03:35 behind Lovell.

G-Flow took the next two spots with Henry Li, fourth in the U-23, finishing 5th in 4:25:20 and Codd, fifth in U-23, clocking 4:25:53 in 6th place.

Castro, the second Elite rider to finish, was seventh overall in 4:27:03. Castro was followed by the third Elite Renan Matus of M&M Engineering who was eighth overall in 4:28:19.

501 Valvoline’s Brandon Cattouse, the first Masters, was ninth in 4:29:47.

Independent rider Kent ‘Bob’ Gabourel rounded off the Top 10 in 4:29:49. He was the second Masters rider.

Third in the Masters was Robert Liam Stewart who clocked 4:29:55 and finished 11th in the General Classification.

Only 17 of the 30 riders who signed up finished the race.

Individual Time Trial champion and last year’s National Road Subchampion Oscar Quiroz of the 501 Valvoline Cycling Team, one of the favourites to take the race, didn’t have his best day and had to pull out along with other riders like his teammate Mairon Muñoz, Westrac Alliance’s Byron Pope and Carlton Robinson, and Kulture’s Kenroy ‘Smokes’ Gladden.

LA Sweat’s Kaya Cattouse won the 60-mile Women’s Road Championship ahead of 2021 National Road Champion Alicia Thompson and Paulita Chavarria. Gabrielle Gabourel won the Women’s Junior title.

C-Ray’s Goran Gabourel took the 60-mile Men’s Junior Road Championship followed by Delton Rojas and Ramon Codd. Jaylen Briceño won the Youth Category.

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