Airman Buddhika overall champion
Meemanage Perera wins final stage:
By Bernard PERERA in Koggala
Sri Lanka Air Force rider Buddhika Warnakulasuriya was declared the
winner of the ‘Guwan Hamuda Papedi Savariya 2011’ (Air Force Cycle Tour)
which concluded yesterday at Koggala.
The race was run for four consecutive days commencing from Vavuniya
on Wednesday saw four riders take honours. But on the overall timing
Buddhika had a time of 11 hrs. 25.18 secs. for the whole event followed
by his team mate Dinesh Danushka who won the stage one from Vavuniya to
Polonnaruwa.
Wasantha Harischandra of Sri Lanka Army who was placed third in three
stages of the race had to content with the same position in the overall
standings, who clocked 11 hrs. 26.28 secs.
The final stage of the tour commenced in Colombo with Buddhika
Warnakulasuriya wearing the yellow jersey. The race was evenly contested
right through with the bunch riding along Galle Road up to Aluthgama.
Jeewan Jayasinghe (Air Force) was the sprint winner yesterday at
Moratuwa, but he could not maintain the same speed when reaching the
final sprint. Here it was Sri Lanka Army’s Dileepa Prabath who was in
front followed by Isuru Prabath, Dinesh Nuwan Kumara and Sanath
Jayasinghe.
On reaching Ambalangoda five riders broke off from the main bunch but
the followers did not allow them to go on their own and kept chasing the
leaders and caught up the riders before they reach Galle Town.
It became a ding dong battle race again with five riders led by
Dinesh Danushka, Sumithra Fernando and Meemanage Perera pulling off from
there onwards. This bunch of riders maintained their superiority till
they reached the finishing line together clocking 3 hrs. 02.43 seconds.
The second set of riders too crossed the line in less than a minute
making it a real race for the spectators.
Ninty riders who were flagged off on Wednesday from Vavuniya could
not complete the four stages. And around fifteen riders had to pull out
due to injuries and technical problems. The most noteworthy performance
achieved by these riders was that in all stages they maintained an
average speed of over 40 kilometers. When comparing this with previous
events it is highly commendable.
The riders really proved that they have the skill to reach greater
speeds in the near future as most of them are equipped with new
machines.
Meemanage Perera the winner in yesterday’s final stage stated that he
came back to racing after a lapse of one year.
And had to practice only for a month and I am happy to have won the
event today. He also paid a glowing tribute to Sri Lanka Army for
supporting him with a cycle to compete in this event.
The winner will be awarded the trophy and a cash prize to the value
of Rs. 200,000 while the two runners up get cash awards to the tune of
Rs. 150,000 and 100,000 respectively.
The winning team Sri Lanka Navy was given a purse worth Rs. 120,000
while the runner up team Sri Lanka Air Force received Rs. 60,000.
Results
Last stage winners
1. Meemanage Perera (Sri Lanka Army)
2. Dinesh Danushka (Sri Lanka Air Force)
3. Sumithra Fernando (Super Wheels CC)
[Over all winners]
1. Buddhika Warnakulasuriya (Sri Lanka Air Force) 11.25:18
2. Dinesh Danushka (Sri Lanka Air Force) 5.25:20
3. Wasantha Harischandra (Sri Lanka Army) 11.26:18
4. Hemantha Kumara (Sri Lanka Navy) 11.26:18
5. Suwani Premachandra (Dehiwala Mount-Lavinia MC) 11.26:20 |