Leocadia Bongben
4 April 2008
Despite expectations that the hitches witnessed at the beginning of the International Cycling Tour were going to gradually fade out, the contrary is the case as poor organisation has decided to trail the caravan from the north down to the south of the country.
After the third and fourth laps of the tour, from Koutaba-Bandja-Bafang, the rules could not be respected as delay in the arrival of bicycles were witnessed that caused the distance to be shortened.
The poor organisation has been attributed to incompetence and tribalism.During the transfer from Ngaoundere to Koutaba on March 31, the bicycles, medical stock and other technical equipment were left behind in Ngaoundere and had to come by road.
At 9.00am kick off time, bicycles had not arrived and teams even threatened to call off the race.According to UCI Commissioner, Jeam Michel Voets, there was too much baggage for two trips planned for the military plane.
He agreed that this would attract a penalty and wondered why the bicycles were left behind while priority was given to officials and others. He lamented the absence of communication concerning lodging and restoration amongst others.
He said it is not easy to handle transportation but ruled out the possibility of cancelling the fourth lap. He said this would depend on the Road commissioner.However, he said the efforts of the Technical Director, Joseph Evouna, have to be hailed. Voets maintained that the transfer of the riders by plane is a plus for the organisation to allow them rest.
Sanda Maintains Lead
At the second, third and fourth lapses, Sanda Joseph, of SNH Velo Club maintained the lead with the yellow jersey.Though in the second lap, Garoua-Lagdo-Garoua, Glajza Robert of Middle Slovakia came first, followed by Teguimaha Shadrack of SNH Velo Club, and Carruolo Nicola in the third position, Sanda clung to all the jerseys.
Similarly, in the third lap from Ngaouyanga -Ngaoundere, 76.6km, Tega Martinien won the lap, with Glajza Robert following, and Lokossue Kouame, Cote D'Ivoire in the third position, on the general classification, Sanda was leading with a difference of more than two seconds with a total time of 8hour 09'42.
The fourth lap which was finally 30km saw Ivan Viglaski from Middle Slovakia leading, and Glajza Robert, also from Middle Slovakia, trailing while Lokossue Kouame, from Cote D'Ivoire in the third position.
However, on the general classification, Sanda keeps the yellow jersey of leader, Blue of best African and the white jersey for the best young rider.Teguimaha Shadrack of SNH Velo Club snatched the red and white jerseys for best climber while Glajza Robert grabbed the green jersey on the general classification on individual point count.
So far some seven riders abandoned the race; one of them, Croissant Guy of Team Allier France, complaining of harsh weather, which he said contributed to his head ache. He said he came for the race to train and prepare himself for other competitions.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Post. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
