Cycling - No Seychellois on ITT podium |24 July 2019

No Seychellois cyclists could make it onto the medals’ podium in the individual time trial cycling race of the 10th Indian Ocean Islands Games in Mauritius.

The five local cyclists for the individual race were Denus Oredy, Ahmad Arissol, Christopher Gerry, Jean Yves Souyave and Dominic Arrisol.

The 18km road race which started at the Côte d’Or Sports Complex saw the participation of 28 cyclists from Seychelles, Madagascar, Reunion, Mayotte and Mauritius. The gold medal went to Sebastien Elma from Reunion with a time of 24 minutes 01.11 seconds (24:01.11). He was the 24th cyclist to be released after a two-minute interval between them.

The silver medal was won by Christopher Lagane from Mauritius with a time of 24:04.67 and Yannick Lincoln from Mauritius won the bronze medal with a time of 24:05.31 seconds.

Oreddy was 11th (25:59.46), Souyave 12th (26:04.96), Dominic Arrisol 13th (26:06.78), Gerry 14th (26:08.41), and Ahmad Arissol 15th (26:09.65).

Individual time trial gold medallist on home soil in 2015, Reunionnais Emmanuel Chamand only managed to finish the race in fourth position with a time of 24:09.11.

Though the weather was fine, the Seychellois cyclists said the race was difficult because the wind was too strong. What is sure is not only Seychellois cyclists complained of the strong wind which affected their performances.

Text and photos Patrick Joubert in Mauritius