Last-Minute Sprint Steals the Show in Junior Cycling Race

Keith Enwright Junior and Irani Baki were crowned champions of the 25th BEL Junior Cross Country Cycling Classic on Sunday, with Enwright delivering a surprise sprint finish to claim the male title and Baki dominating the female race.

We’ll have all the highlights tonight on News 5 Live at 6 p.m. 

Thirty junior male riders set off from the Succotz Ferry in the Cayo District Sunday morning, among them five foreign competitors, including two Mexicans, two Guatemalans, and one rider from the Cayman Islands.

The race intensified around mile 35 when Amaad Cherington launched a solo attack, opening up a lead of approximately three minutes.

He rode alone for more than a dozen miles before a group of four riders caught him twelve miles from the finish. The lead group entering Belize City consisted of three G Flow riders, Griga Cycling’s Jamaal Tablada and Cayman Islands rider Ryan Thompson.

In the closing stretch, Cherington led the pace, but Enwright Jr powered from behind in the final metres to secure first place. Thompson finished second, while Tablada claimed third.

Enwright Jr. said he initially doubted his chances heading into the finish. “I had no faith in myself… I am not a sprinter,” he said. “But when I saw the rider from Cayman coming, I knew I could not let him win.”

“To be honest, I just feel shocked. I don’t understand how I did that,” he added.

In the junior female race, seventeen-year-old Irani Baki rode from Roaring Creek to Belize City largely unchallenged, successfully defending her title from a year ago.

Baki said she had hoped for more competition on the day. “From far, I was running by myself for this entire race, and I kind of wanted it to be a better race,” she said.

Baki also competed in the Women’s Cross Country two weeks ago and is now preparing to travel to Paris for training.