DeFour opens V.I. cycling season with victory
Published: January 24, 2012
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Mark DeFour received a "Most Improved" trophy at the end of the last cycling season, and the 18-year-old is already off to a fast start this year.
DeFour charged "The Beast" and was never challenged Sunday as he won the 13-mile Anything Goes cycling race in 39 minutes and 14 seconds. Apolinar Acevedo was second in 41:50 and Scott Fricks took third in 42:26.
It was the first U.S. Virgin Islands Cycling Federation race of the season on the St. Croix circuit and eight riders showed up, federation secretary Sara Gambee said. Two cyclists - Tom Guthrie and Aaron Hutchins - rode mountain bikes, while the rest of the field raced road bikes.
"The Beast" is a 600-foot climb on a stretch of highway 7/10 of a mile long with an average incline grade of 14 percent and a maximum of 21 percent.
David DeFour (42:27) was fourth, followed by Guthrie (45:20), Hutchins (48:26), Wilbur Joseph (55:20) and Fred Rawlins (1:17:58).
After DeFour, a Central High graduate, put together an impressive win streak last season, he joined Apolinar Acevedo Jr. at the Caribbean Junior Cycling Championships in Salinas, Puerto Rico last August.
Next up is the East End Time Trial on Sunday. It will be 13 miles, will start at 7 a.m. at the Solitude Store and will run clockwise. Joint Forces will be the host club.
The St. Croix cycling circuit will feature 27 events through October, including several group rides, time trials and road races. The USVI Championship Road Race, set for Sept. 23, will include three different distances.
Gambee also said the deadline to form a cycling team is Sunday, and the criteria for racers to move up classes has changed based on a points system. For more information about future races or joining the USVI Cycling Federation, email Gambee at vicfsecretary@gmail.com.
- Contact sports writer Aaron Gray at 714-9102 or email agray@dailynews.vi.
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