Hot Action Down South....Under the Rain....

In what will most likely be the last official race of the 2009 racing season, the Sagitun Banana Classic held in the deep southern belt of the banana industry saw many cyclists congregate in Independence Village for what turned out to be quite a competitive event. Under cloudy skies and rain, the organizers still managed to put off three nice races in the Junior, Master (cat. 4/5) and Elite/U-23 categories, offering nice cash prizes along the way.

The Team Zamir and Sugar City Starz guys were out in full force with 7 Belizeans and 3 Mexicans. We wanted to represent well for Roger (Zamir) since the race was being held in his adopted home town and was being organized by his in-laws.

As is usual, the attacks were furious and many in the beginning but the group basically stayed together for the 1st lap on the 42 mile "x-shaped" course which took riders all the way out to the San Juan Village, back towards Independence, turning south towards Bella Vista Village, before coming back out and heading into Big Creek then back out again. Unfortunately for us during these tense moments we there was a crash which saw four of our guys go down (including all three Mexicans), with one of them, Nelo Acosts breaking a derailur and being forced to abandon the race.

Gilberto going solo for 5 station prizes

On the 2nd of the two laps, the attacks really started to pick up since this was the lap that would have as much as a dozen cash station prizes (primes). Byron Pope (Benny's) was the 1st to make a credible move, but was soon reeled back in by the strong Santino's team who wanted to keep it together as best as possible for Marlon Castillo and Greg Lovell. As soon as the peleton brought Pope back, Gilberto Santiago (Starz) one of our Mexican imports who also won a stage for us in Merida, made a bold solo move that saw him eat up 5 straight station prizes in uncontested fashion.

Sensing this to be a serious move Santino's again took over the chasing duties and labored to bring him back. This hard effort by Marlon split the pack and saw a small group of nine go off the front.

We had good representation with Giov (Starz) and Roger (Zamir) being the two protected guys for the race. When they caught Gil, the now 10-man group would work well to stay away to the end. While at the back Pashito Leiva, now back with Starz after an up and down season, Victor Manuel "Chromato" Martinez (Mexician) and the remaining Choto brothers kept the peleton under control.

Coming into the sprint for the final, Gil jumped and got a massive gap on the break, but mis-judged the tight final right hand turn to the line and almost whipped out. He managed to hold on bu lost too much ground and had to settle for 4th just behind Christian MacNish (the Panamanian sprinter from Benny's) who took 1st, Greg Lovell (Santino's) 2nd, Douglas Guiterrez (Costa Rican from Benny's) 3rd. Rounding out the top ten were Nissan Arana (Typhoon) 5th, Giov (Starz) 6th, Jairo Campos (Typhoon) 7th, Roger (Zamir) 8th, Jawmeighan (Santino's) 9th, and Marlon Castillo (Santino's) in 10th.

Some other notable finishes for the team were Jose Choto (Zamir) in 12th, and Pashito (Starz) in 15th. In the Master 4/5 category race new comer to the Starz outfit, Glen O'Brien formerly of Santino's was the lone gun for the team. Though severly outnumbered he held Glen represented very well placing 3rd out of a 6 man breakaway that got clear with about 8 miles left in the 42 mile event. Kudos and a good showing!!!

This was a nice end tot he season and puts us in a confident position going into the 2010 campaign. We are already deep in negotiations with potential riders for the upcoming season and should be able to post new signings and a 2010 roster in the coming weeks. Stay tuned....