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Trinidad and Tobago’s Njisane Phillip did not disappoint at the 2013 World Series of Cycling UCI Festival of Speed at the Valley Preferred Cycling Centre on Friday night.
The racing lived up to its lofty billing as speed demons Phillip and New Zealand’s Stephanie McKenzie dominated the competition.
Phillip defeated British dynamo John Paul in the UCI sprint semi-finals before taking the best-of-three sprint final in two rides Matt Baranoski, to claim the UCI Sprint Title.
Baranoski reversed that result and got a little bit of revenge in edging Phillip to win the keirin Final.
Kwesi Browne and Azikiwe Kellar also had good performances, finishing sixth and seventh respectively in the sprint competition, while Browne was fourth in the keirin final.
Varun Maharajh was also in action, and finished fifth in the Pro Men Super Sprint Elimination and fourth in the Pro Men UCI 15km Scratch.
But in the end, it was Phillip’s night to shine.
The T&T Olympic Cyclist said: “It was real close the entire [second] race. It wasn’t even a matter of me holding him off. It was really just a matter of who was going to cross the line first.”
Phillip wasn’t the only islander to find success on Friday night. Stephanie McKenzie of New Zealand came from behind to take the women’s keirin final for the second straight week.
Phillip qualified for the keirin final with a third-place finish in the first men’s heat. And though he had the aid of fellow Trinidadian Browne in the final, Phillip came up just short.
“[Matt] is really strong. He’s a great racer and he’s great at keirin,” said Phillip, a bronze medallist in the sprint race at the 2011 Pan American Games.
–CMC