How Nelson, Agwu, Eluwumi led Team Rivers to victory at Lagos Criterium

It was the first of its kind in these shores, but Team Rivers made it look so simple while cruising to victory on Monday, a day declared a public holiday by the Federal Government to celebrate Nigeria’s democracy.

The maiden ‘Lagos Criterium,’ organised by the Cycology Riding Club in partnership with the Lagos State Sports Commission, drew lovers of cycling and other fun seekers to the Eko Atlantic project grounds, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Both Bassey Nelson and Rita Agwu of Team Rivers won the Men’s Pro and Women’s Pro categories in a time of 30 minutes over 16 laps and 36 minutes 52 seconds over 12 laps respectively. The Veterans race in the Men’s category was won by Ifeanyi Eluwuni, while Neila Hengstler took the Women’s crown.

Other results include Henry Chibuzor, second and Innocent Emmanuel third in the Men’s Pro, while Tombrapa Grikpa and Caroline Dung were second and third in the Women’s Pro. In the Men’s Veterans category, Pablo Ramirez came second and Andy Allman third while Ponnie Ramirez and Odiri Meggison also placed second and third respectively in the Women’s category.

By their victories, Nelson and Agwu went home with a cash prize of N200,000, while the runners up won N140,000 and the third placed cyclists N100,000 in both the Men’s and Women’s group. The Veterans were only given trophies.

Speaking on her victory, Agwu said she knew she would win the championship having trained well enough, adding, “My victory did not come to me as a surprise because I know the effort I put in during training.”

An elated captain of the Cycology Riding Club, Ladipo Soetan, said he was satisfied with what he saw at the end of the championship. “I must give kudos to the members of the Cycology Riding Club for their commitment; they have been all fantastic. We have over 30 sponsors for this competition, we are indeed grateful to every one of them and we hope to provide a greater forum for future competition.

“The cycling event is going to be a yearly event by God’s grace. If other states can support cycling just as Lagos State government has done, then we can be rest assured that cycling has come to stay.