Darren Matthews finished the season befitting his status in local cycling – ahead of the pack.
The reigning national road race and time trial champ didn’t squander the opportunity to put his talents on display, lapping all but one competitor on the way to a season-ending victory in Sunday’s 40-lap criterium on the Fontabelle circuit.
It was just the 20-year-old’s fourth victory on the road all year as former road race king Simon Clarke dominated the early part of the season to the tune of five wins in seven starts.
However, Matthews saved his best for the ones that counted most after doing the double in June’s national championships by sweeping both the time trial and road race.
And another Matthews victory in last weekend’s finale was all but assured in the absence of Clarke and former national champs Jason Perryman and Mario Forde.
But Jamol Eastmond provided a bit of uncertainty to the final result, having stuck with his G4S Swift rival for the entire race save the final homestretch.
In the end, the promising Team Aspire youngster could only settle for second best after comfortably losing out in the eventual sprint to the finish.
This was after the duo had made an early break from the main group before coming back to lap that peloton with about five of the 40 laps remaining.
Earlier, Fugen veteran Esther Miller-Rosemond completed a season that saw her lose just once in eight starts after finishing her allotted 30 laps as the only female rider to take the course.
Rosemond’s teammate Kristin Vanderpool captured the 40-lap junior equivalent after outlasting debutant Jesse Kelly of G4S, while Velo Caribe’s John Proverbs got the better of over-50s rival Ronald Harding (Fugen).
Team Aspire’s Andrew Quimby took honours in the masters category, beating the likes of Reginald Jones (A-Class Batteries Golden Wheelers) and Sedwin Jones (Fugen).
Golden Wheelers club mates Kris Kirton and Edwin Sutherland won the category four and juvenile divisions, respectively, after Shammay Bishop (BMX girls), Shamar Rollins (BMX 10-12) and Jahmali Padmore (BMX 7-9) all recorded one-lap victories.
