Senior Reporter
walter.alibey@guardian.co.tt
T&T’s Elite cyclist Alexi Costa-Ramirez followed up on her winning performance in the T&T Cycling Federation’s National Championships Time Trial on Saturday, by taking the Elite Women’s Road Race event at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Balmain, Couva on Sunday.
The event was a gruelling 103-kilometre grind that took riders from the Ato Boldon Stadium, all the way up to the Mt Hope roundabout and down to Debe, before the riders dashed back to the Stadium for the finish.
Costa-Ramirez, a winner of the Time Trial the day before in a time of 35 minutes, 13.71 seconds in the 15-lap race, had now successfully doubled up by crossing the finish line first for the gold medal and national championship title, representing the American tour team Miami Blazers.
Costa-Ramirez, who signed for the US team for the 2023 season, got across the finish line before second-place Cheyenne Awai who rode for Heatwave.
Maurice Burnette took the elite men’s title, riding unattached. Burnette stepped up to claim a title that was expected to go to Akil Campbell, the winner of the time trial the day before. However, Campbell, who won the country’s first-ever endurance gold medal at an international event, had been relegated to the fourth-place finish.
Burnette was followed closely behind by Benjamin Mouttet (Breakaway) and third Enrique De Comarmond of the Heatwave Club.
Meanwhile, Ashleigh Thomas, the rider from The Braves had also doubled up in the junior women’s division by taking the road race crown.