The Tribune

ONE word describes Stage 3 of the GBCC 2018 Tour De Grand Bahama. It was Fast. It was a day that would go down in the history of the Tour De Grand Bahama as the fastest stage ever completed in the Tour. "I know I tend to exaggerate the speed of our cyclists, but there is no exaggeration necessary here. From start to finish the pace was blistering with the average speed never dropping below 25mph.

"In fact, from the corner of Eight Mile Rock to the turn into West End, the speed of our Cat 1 cyclists never fell below 30 mph. That's 11 miles of pure speed. If you know anything about Bahamian cycling, then you know that that's incredibly fast for a local race. Not to mention a 78-mile race, where the average speed is typically 21 to 22 mph."

The winning time from McCleans Town to West End was a blistering three hours and 30 seconds for an average speed of 25.4 mph. "Did I mention it was fast?" Jones asked. The main protagonists or antagonists depending who you ask, were Mark "the Punisher" Sherboneau, Anthony "Biggie" Colebrook and Jay "Beast Mode" Major.

"These guys came to shatter dreams and break some hearts if you thought it was going to be just the regular stage. Mark Sherboneau, visiting out of Canada, with legs stronger than pistons certainly gained the nickname given to him as he set forth to not only punish, but destroy the field," Jones said. "After charging up the Casaurina Bridge at 35 mph and making everyone else look as if they were standing still, it was obvious that he wasn't visiting for vacation, but he came to work."

At the end of the day, he was outsprinted by our hometown boys, Anthony Colebrook and Jay Major, who took first and second respectively in the stage. However, he maintained enough time to win the Tour overall.