MARIGOT--Powerhouse rider Nicole Erato was on spectacular form during Sunday’s postponed Pondfill Challenge cycle race, mixing it up with the men and pulling at the front, before charging across the finish line to win the women’s race, seemingly many lengths ahead of her female rivals.
But the surprise of the day was Nicole’s partner Alba who came in second in her first race in St. Maarten, taking Susy Piscione completely by surprise with a brilliant sprint to overtake on the last lap. No slouch on the bike, Susy would have been a certain second had she not underestimated Alba, thinking she was further back. “She seemed to come out of nowhere,” Susy lamented.
Nicole returned from Majorca in June where she spent a year training. “I had the chance there to work on my technical skills on beautiful roads and I was racking up hundreds of kilometres, riding almost every day. There was a good mix of mountains, downhills and switchbacks, so in this race on Sunday I noticed I didn’t lose any momentum anywhere. I felt really confident.”
Nicole met Alba in Majorca a year ago and introduced her to cycling and has since been training her. “She’s definitely a natural athlete in anything she does,” Nicole explained. “When I took her out cycling for the first time, I could see her potential and told her we must train together.”
Said Alba: “At first, I was scared about cycling in Majorca because of the cars, but after riding with Nicole I got hooked. The race on Sunday went better than I thought and I had the power at the end.”
The race organised by Hot Wheels Cycling Club and Tri Sport Tigers, offered a mostly flat course around the entire Pondfill via Illidge Road, Madame Estate and Sucker Garden. Categories were Masters Open 40 plus, Invitation category, Women, Novice and 60 Plus. Masters Open and Invitational rode 10 laps and everyone else eight laps.
There was one crash in the race when Roberto Levenstone made what he called a “rookie” mistake when he inadvertently let his pedal connect with the road surface while cornering on one of the roundabouts which sent him tumbling to the ground as the rider behind him, Alfred Maccow, went straight into him. Fortunately, both riders were not seriously hurt.
Mark Maidwell (SXM Sport Evasion) got the better of Otis Cotton (Tri Sport Tigers) to win the Masters Open. Steeve Catalan came in third. Ralph Bredl (Chain Breakers) won the 60 Plus category, ahead of Vincent Martin (SXM Sport Evasion) second and Wilfred Berchel (SXM Sport Evasion) in third.
The race was made possible thanks to the support of CC1 providing the drinks and the police and volunteers who took care of traffic control and safety.
