BELIZE CITY, May 29, 2017-A total of 62 riders registered for this first ever Tour de Santino – 21 Mexicans and 41 Belizeans. By the end of the Tour, 15 riders had abandoned, 14 Belizeans and 1 Mexican, Juan Manuel Yapur, due to the death of his mother that took place Saturday evening after our Stage 2. Below are the results of the 3 Stages and the General Classification in all Categories.
Stage 1 – Leslie’s/Hattieville/Leslie’s: 1st – Gabriel Burgos (Mexican); 2nd – Sherman “Pest” Thomas (Team Santino’s); 3rd – Jose Arroyo (Mexican).
Stage 2 – Leslie’s/Boom Junction/Leslie’s: 1st – Liam Stewart (Team Santino’s); 2nd – Barney Brown (Team Scotiabank); 3rd – Palas Joseph (Team Lampaz).
Stage 3 – Belmopan to Belize: 1st – Ernesto Lopez (Oaxaca, Mexico); 2nd – Sherman Thomas (Team Santino’s); 3rd – Barney Brown (Team Scotiabank).
General Classification: 1st – Sherman Thomas (Team Santino’s – 68 points); 2nd – Barney Brown (Team Scotiabank – 55 pts); 3rd – Palas Joseph (Team Lampaz – 52 pts); 4th – Kirk Sutherland (Team Digicell – 49 pts); 5th – Esau Reyes (Mexicano – 49 pts).
Top 5 “B” Riders (50-59 years): 1st – Barney Brown (Team Scotiabank – 55 pts); 2nd – Palas Joseph (Team Lampaz – 52 pts); 3rd – Warren Coye (Team Santino’s – 43 pts); 4th – Elias Dogre (Mexicano – 32 pts); 5th – Mark Gentle (Team FT Williams – 25 pts).
Top 60-Plus Riders: 1st – Santino the Chief (Team Santino’s); 2nd – Dean Boyce (Team FT Williams).
The 3 Champions in the 3 Categories were: Sherman “Pest” Thomas of Team Santino’s in Category “A” 40-49; Barney Brown of
Team Scotiabank in the Category “B” 50-59; Chief Santino of Team Santino’s in the 60-Plus Category.
Special Last Place Prize: Luis Usher (Team FT Williams).
I close by thanking all of you who participated, and to the officials for doing a great job. They are: Jerome Williams, Melin Torres, Marlon Smith, Glenn Crawford, Andrew Ordonez and Jeffery Zelaya. There were no spills or controversies, making it even sweeter. Thanks to my 6 sponsors: Belize Bank, Benny’s, Digicell 4G/LTE, Santiago Castillo Ltd., Radisson for rooming and taking great care of all the Mexicans, and Belikin for quenching their thirst Sunday at its conclusion.
See you for Tour de Santino – May 26 & 27, 2018.