On Saturday Belize's elite cyclists will start the year as they have for the past 21 years, at the Santa Elena border, lining up for the Annual KREM New Year's Day cycling Classic.
The names may change, but the grand themes remain the same: will a Belizean be able to defend his country's honour on this first day of the year? And, will the rivalry between teams come before national pride?
This year it's more important than ever as Belize got shamed at the male elite level last year: with foreign riders claiming the first five places and the first Belizean rider coming in sixth. And as if to put an emphasis on it, the top two riders were both named Carlos Hernandez, one from Guatemala and one from Mexico.
The defending champion, Hernandez of Guatemala will not be riding this year - but cycling historian, enthusiast and official Kwame Scott told us who and what we should look out for:…
Kwame Scott, Cycling Enthusiast
"KREM New Years Day Cycling Classic is really the second biggest race in Belize's cycling calendar. 21 years of history, all the neighboring countries have their prime cyclist who look forward to coming across the border to compete with us. Our local teams are all wanting this garland in their resume, each cyclist would like to have a new years day classis in his victory file as part of his resume. We also have intense rivalries in this time around because there have been off season movement in my opinion, riders have left and went on other teams for example Marlon Castillo who is two time champion of this event had been riding for the Zamir team from Orange Walk for the last year and a half. Gregory Lovell who use to ride for team Santinos will be riding his first new years day classic also in a Zamir jersey so there is that rivalry there."
"It's obvious that team Zamir and team Santino have a rivalry, most definitely. Team Zamir is almost in a more advantageous position in my opinion because they have two city stars. The prestige of winning this race is very big."
The 92 mile race starts at 9:00 am at the Santa Elena border and finishes about three and a half hours later on central American Boulevard in Belize City…
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