2013 COWBELL NATIONAL CYCLING TOUR: THRILLER AT TAMALE

The Hospital Road in Tamale, the capital town of the Northern Region was the action spot where 62 determined cyclists rode for honours on Saturday.

They had to go 20 laps totaling 120 kilometers to see who wears the yellow, green, red and white jerseys as well as who was the fastest under the scorching sun.

As some cycling fans and the cyclists had predicted that there could be surprises, it came to pass that unsung Victor Cudjoe Akpbli of All Stars cycling club shocked the large crowd drawn by Cowbell to beat favourite, Samuel Anim to second place in a time of 3hours 23 minutes and 18 seconds.

Henry Tetteh Djangmahof Die Hard club, another favourite was third, with young rider Frank Awuku Akuffo (All Stars) and Moro Yakubu Egala (Die Hard) taking the fourth and fifth places respectively.

Isaac Sackey of Young Stars maintained his Yellow Jersey, just like team mates Samuel Anim and Captain retaining the Green, Red and Blue jerseys.

Cycling expects, George Adou from Cote d’voire and Shaaban Mohammed, the Technical Director of the Ghana Cycling Federation described the performance as splendid, but they had to work harder to reach the class of Eritrea and European standards.

Shaaban Mohammed said Ghanaian cyclists are improving and they had to be given the chance to travel out to Europe to test their skills and strength against world class riders. He said Ghana has risen up in the rankings, and the cyclists must do more get the opportunity to represent Ghana at international competitions.

Kwabena Asamoah, Communications Manager of Promasidor Ghana Ltd and his Marketing Manager, Festus Tettey were happy to see the crowd and said there are more actions and thrillers coming up as the Tour descends southwards to Buipe, Kintampo, Techiman and Kumasi, before moving to Koforidua and then to the Volta region before ending in Accra.

The Cowbell National Cycling Tour is supported by Pens & Plastics Ghana Ltd. The clubs participating are All Stars, Young Stars, Die Hard, City Migro, HM, River Park clubs of Accra, Sunyani, and Kumasi, Victory form Cape Coast, Gutten, Volta Stars and Quick Step.

By Sammy Heywood Okine