2013 Cowbell National Cycling Tour (Stage 1): Samuel Anim secures 3 major jerseys

Samuel Anim, team leader of Young Stars Cycling Club, arrived first at Mankessim, to win the first stage of the 2013 Cowbell National Cycling Tour of Ghana.

The tall and well built cyclist had to dig deep in other to beat a spirited performance by Isaac Donkor and Abraham Acquatey, who placed second and third respectively.

“It wasn't easy for me, I had to suffer with the help of my team mates to win”, said Samuel Anim, while catching his breath after the hotly contested race.

Isaac and Abraham together with their team mates from All Stars Cycling Club worked tirelessly for 13km to the end of the race, in other to close down Isaac Sackey (Young Stars), who took a lead of 400m meters with 37 km to end the race.

After early miscommunication between the riders in the Young Stars team, they got together in the main peloton, had a pep chat, and executed a perfect strategy to lay the foundation for their key rider, Samuel Anim, to taste the spoils of victory.

Isaac Sackey, a decoy sprinter, took a 400m meter lead by breaking away from the first bunch with 37km to the white wash. Sackey timed his attack with distinction as race commisaire, George Ado, from Ivory Coast, announced the commencement of feeding, which was a distraction for most of the cyclist.

In a bid to quench their test, some of the riders lost concentration, paving way for Isaac to escape beyond their vision.

Defending Champion Henry Tetteh-Djanmah, 3 time winner of the competition, realizing the threat, sent out his counterpart to 'swallow' Isaac, but that task was insurmountable.

20km to the end of the race, incredibly, the dynamics change. All Stars riders (Isaac Donkor and Abraham Acquatey) displayed tough physical strength to catch up with Isaac.

When the race commissaire announced the time difference of 1 minute 5 sec between the front riders( head) and the main peloton, all the key contenders started to hustle for favorable angles for the sprint finish which is characteristic of a flat race.( 103km Accra-Mankessim ).

A kilometer to the end of the race, the 'lead-out' strategy of Young Stars was not the best. Samuel Anim was led out by his team mates from a poor angle, but he managed to position him well to victory.

After a great display of hard kicking by the all stars duo, they could not match the pace and power of Samuel Anim, who roared to finish line in style.

The captain of the National Cycling Team, Aminu Osam Mohammed, who rides for River Pack Kumasi, crossed the white line in fifth position, closely followed by Nuru Pady Alhassan (Die Hard Cycling Club).

For their efforts, all stars were awarded the best team (Blue Jersey). Antony Boakye gave his team mates (River Pack Kumasi) something to shout about by winning the white jersey (Best Youngest Rider).

The man of the day, Samuel Anim won a 'hatrick of jerseys'. He picked the Red (most aggressive Rider), Green (Best Rider by points) he won the two hot spots ('point chaud') at Awutu and Winneba Junction. He also won the Yellow Jersey, which is the most prestigious Jersey to wear in the competition (Best Rider by Time).

When asked about his assessment of the first stage, Technical Director, Mohammed Shaaban said “this was the fastest ever race in the history of the cowbell cycling tour with an average speed of 41km/h”.

The hatrick man is expected to be in yellow for the stage 2 of the competition, which is a 107km race from Cape Coast to the Oil City (Takoradi), where he fell and got injured last year, losing his yellow jersey in the process.