This planned Tour has a very good balance with the miles to be covered on the flat and mountainous roads. The time trial will be pivotal. My only wish is that I might have witnessed the time trial on the slopes of our hilly region. Apart from that it will be interesting to see which of the riders come to the fore. In any tour, consistency is the key, and ?Palas? is the most consistent over the last three months. The ?Cyclist of the Year? competition points? tallies have been released. It is Roque Matus ? M&M Engineering leading with 442 points; Santino ?The Chief? Castillo ? Santino?s with 343; and Fitzgerald ?Palas? Joseph ? unattached with 308 points. The other remaining contenders in the top five positions are Gilroy ?Cable Guy? Robinson ? M&M Engineering with 266, and Jonathan Garbutt ? RCQ with 183. One last observation, the points spread being employed for the competition. It is my idea that if the scheduled points-scale from the Cycling Association Racing Rules were used, or a similar method reflecting these percentages between the winners of the podium prizes and the consolation finishers, the competition would have been closer and tighter. And any contest that is tighter yields more excitement. The Santino?s Racing Club has yet another event to their calendar. It is their King of the Hill event scheduled for 30th? 31stJuly, 2005.
