Danny Laud (right)
The continued high performance of Hasani Hennis has the potential of making him an invincible Anguillian cyclist. This is not only because of his prowess in last year’s Commonwealth Games in Australia, but because he became the first Anguillian in 19 years to have won the John T. Memorial Cycle Race in 2018 – and has now won it again in its 20th year, 2019.
The above was one of the plausible statements made about him by a number of persons on Sunday, July 21. That was when he outstripped other riders by a large margin in the John T. Memorial Cycle Race, witnessed by a mammoth crowd. The event is Anguilla’s premier cycle race which attracts annually an increasing influx of cyclists from throughout the region.
The just held annual race, which included various categories, and described as the largest so far, was organised by the Anguilla Cycling Association with the assistance of its highly-experienced and motivational President, Mr. Derek Carty, and the support of many sponsors. As he announced the rules and routes the race, Mr. Carty told his listeners:
“As you can see, we have more cyclists participating in this year’s John T. Race. We have a lot more young cyclists and this means that the continuity of the sport will not be jeopardised. We have some serious and faster competitors this year so the event will be very competitive. We have cyclists from all over the Caribbean region. You would have observed that in the OECS Championship Race in Anguilla on Friday, July 19, we had cyclists from such territories as Antigua & Barbuda, St. Vincent, Dominica, St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Martin/St. Marten and Anguilla. Now the additional cyclists for the John .T Race, who were not part of the OECS Race, are from the Dominican Republic, Turks & Caicos, Guyana, Barbados and Bermuda. This is the first time that we have cyclists from the Dominican Republic and Bermuda.”
Hasani Hennis was among the participants in the OECS Race, but Mr. Carty explained that he [Hasani] was not keen to score in that event. “There is something that Anguillians need to understand,” he went on. “A lot of people have been inquiring about Hasani’s positioning, but at the time it was not his intention to win that race. He and the other Anguillian cyclists were working as a team…so he held back, somewhat, but stated that the John T. Race was his race to win so he would put out all his effort to be the number one cyclist then.”
True to his word, Hasani won that race, Carty stated.
Hasani hails from Anguilla’s Road South Village, Blowing Point, where the Elected Representative, Mr. Curtis Richardson is also from. The Minister had this to say about the John T. Race and Hasani’s performance:
“Hasani’s win today is great. But let me first say that I want to thank all the organizers and everybody who supported and financed the John T. Memorial Cycle Race. It is a race that the people of Anguilla look forward to every year – and they turned out in large numbers.
“Hasani’s win was extremely well-deserved. He had been cycling in Australia for some, time and has demonstrated that the Commonwealth Games in which he previously participated, served as key in getting him there. But he has proven that he has what it takes, with support, to go on to great things.
“ I was very pleased to see his performance throughout the John T. Race but in the lap, when the cyclists came to Blowing Point, I got a little frustrated because there was this guy from Bermuda that he seemed not to be able to shake off – but when he got to the stoplight in George Hill, he proved to me that he had more in him than what people saw. He turned off, left the guy and beat him by almost five minutes. That was remarkable because, after some two hours of riding, still to be able to drop a guy who stuck with you all day, and to beat him by five minutes, speaks about Hasani’s ability, potential and talent.
“Mr. Richardson added: “In my circles, I would just say that Hasani is anointed to cycle.”
The full results of the John T. Memorial Race are as follows:
