Pete Williams Wins Tobago Classic
30 Sep - 4 October, Report and photos courtesy of Steve McEwen
Pete Williams (CandiTV/Pinarello) wins the Tobago International Cycling Classic
In 2009, Jeffrey Charles of Trinbago Wheelers promoted the four day, five stage international road race event on the beautiful Island of Tobago which this year was won by CandiTV/Marshals Pasta rider Pete Williams. With a selection of International riders challenging the Caribbean's best riders for a prize purse of over $12,000, the event was not for the faint hearted.
Fresh from competing in the Tour of Britain, Pete Williams took to the start line in a composite team alongside his CandiTV/Pinarello team-mate, James Sampson. Following the first three stages of reasonable anonymity, Pete took the yellow jersey after escaping during stage 4 after attacking with two other riders and opening a gap of 2 minutes 45 over his nearest rivals.
Pete Williams, centre, in yellow in Tobago.
Stage 5 was to play a pivotal role in challenging the whole peloton and it did not disappoint. Encapsulating virtually every climb the Island has to offer, race favourite Julian Rammler (Aqua Sapone) was hoping to ignite the race in his King of the Mountains jersey and challenge leader Pete Williams for overall success on GC. Unfortunately Rammler suffered a mechanical early in the race and never closed-in on the gradually diminishing peloton, as the heat intensified in the mid-morning sun to a high of 44C
.
However, Pete rallied his team including James Sampson and previous Tour winner Emile Abrahams and they worked tirelessly over all the mountain passes to ensure that Williams held onto his yellow jersey to take the title of 'King of Tobago' ahead of Lisbon Quintero (Columbia) in second and Timo Sholz in third place.
Peter's teammates including James Sampson (second wheel) working to keep the yellow jersey.
Results
1. Peter Williams, Team Barcode, 13:03:17.35
2. Lisbon Quintero, Team Foundation, Colombia @ 0:02:47
3. Timo Scholz , Team Sachsen Saxony, Germany @ 0:03:10
16. James Sampson, Team Barcode, @0:29:00