And on the ground at the finish line Memorial Park – you could hear a collective sigh as San Cas Red Bull’s Ryan Baumann rode pass the finish solo. Baumann rode into the history books because not only did the 20-year-old finish the race before anyone else did – but he smashed the record by 7 minutes – finishing in 5:40:12. The previous record was 5:47:33.
Keith Swift,
You realize that you broke the record by 7 minutes?
Ryan Baumann, Cross Country Champ
“I had no idea until the finish. I was just planning on rolling in when I knew I had enough of a gap but the Chief was yelling at me to break the record.”
Keith Swift,
You rode for about 47 miles by yourself, you were way ahead of the group. Did you realize you had that much of a lead?
Ryan Baumann,
“No, no. The time gap, I was being told anywhere between two minutes and six minutes. So I could only assume it was close to two minutes, I was surprised to see how much time there was at the finish. I had to give it everything. If I had backed off, I thought I would be caught. I thought there were riders right behind me at the finish.
Our tactic today on Santino and Red Bull was just to help all our Belizean riders. Us foreigners were here just to help the team. I was just covering the moves for Froggie when we were in the breakaway together and luckily I got away, I had no intention of staying away but it just happened.”
Keith Swift,
You’re only 21 years old, how does it feel?
Ryan Baumann,
“Actually I feel 21 in May, I am going to be 21 this year. Words cannot explain how I feel.”
Keith Swift,
How do you celebrate?
Ryan Baumann,
“Celebrate, I am just going to hang out here in Belize today and tomorrow. I want to experience the country and I want to talk all the people and see how they feel about this race and I definitely want to come back for the Tour of Belize and hopefully next year for the Cross Country.”
And while Baumann easily won the garland - the real race was for second place. More than 5 full minutes after Baumann crossed the finish line – Belizean Michael Lewis – riding for Sugar City Boys - sped cross the finish line – edging out Guatemalan Neri Velasquez. Lewis broke the record – finishing in 5:45:00 and was the only Belizean to finish in the top 5.
So while Baumann won the race – Michael Lewis got the hero treatment
from by cycling fans. But the 40-year-old – who has been racing for 24 years – says he is far from a hero – he is a hard worker.
Michael Lewis, 2nd Place
“Right now I am the best sprinter in Belize. A lot of people say this one and that one is fast and they can’t prove it when they reach the end because nobody is faster than me…nobody wants to ride for me.”
Alfrain Supal, Wave Radio
“If you had somebody you would have been able to win?”
Michael Lewis,
“Yes because is just looking. The Belizeans make the foreigners come after three days and ride the race and they sit back. I won’t sit back for foreigners because I don’t ride for foreigners. I trained six months for this race. Why should a foreigner come for three days and I should ride for them. No man, they will take away my glory.
Those guys need to train, they don’t like to train. Some of them go every morning to mile 13 and back and on Sunday they don’t anything. Race day is when they want to do everything.”
Alfrain Supal,
“How do you train?”
Michael Lewis,
“I can’t tell you that.”
Keith Swift,
How old are you Michael?
Michael Lewis,
“40.”
Alfrain Supal,
“And any sign in sight to stop, are you going to retire?”
Michael Lewis,
“I don’t want to retire, I want to do about 30 years but if I don’t get the support I think I will quit. All the sponsors out there, I ask the teams to give me a break but they refuse to give me a break. They are paying the foreigners six hundred dollars to come and win a race they cannot win. I tell them to give me the money so I could win the race for them.”
One Belizean cyclist who could’ve stopped Ryan Baumann is Giovanni “Froggie” Leslie who placed 12th.
Jeovanni “Froggie” Leslie, 12th Place (Team Santino’s)
“I could have done better but my team won so there is always next
year.”
Keith Swift,
You seem a bit disappointed.
Jeovanni “Froggie” Leslie,
“No, no. When we were out there the boss came up immediately and told me don’t help the guy because he didn’t want to take the chance, because if the guy that was chasing got there, he would have sit down because it would have been two Santino’s against him so he wouldn’t have done anything. So I understood that I couldn’t chase so I had to sit and wait for the crowd.”
Keith Swift,
Did you a call some where along the route whereby there was a chance Froggie could have chased Ryan but he didn’t?
Santino Castillo, Manager – Teams Santino’s & Red Bull
“Well the truth is that Ryan and Froggie are riding under the same umbrella, which is under my sponsorship, and it doesn’t make sense for Froggie to chase. It makes sense for the other riders to chase and give Froggie what we call in cycling the ‘free ride’ – that is the norm in cycling. So yes, I told Froggie to sit in and take the free ride. Had Froggie worked, they could have attacked him and bridged over to Ryan and left him behind. So that is the way I called it.”
Keith Swift,
No regrets?
Santino Castillo,
“No regrets at all because like I said, had Froggie gotten there working, he would have gotten there weak and they would have caught Ryan and there is nothing safer and sweeter than a solo victory. I bring guys to ride in my jerseys and I want the Belizeans to win first but if it doesn’t work out that way, I have to accept it the way it falls.”
Keith Swift,
You’re a Belizean and young just like Ryan and he came here and win the race from right under you.
Jeovanni “Froggie” Leslie,
“Well I understand that the Belizeans want to see a Belizean win and I share that same sentiment with them but at the end of the day we have our sponsors to answer to and if it had been a national team, I definitely would have given the guy a hand and brought him back. We got the victory and that’s all that matters.”
A good day for the team but a disappointing one for Froggie Leslie – as well his teammates Greg Lovell and Marlon Castillo - both of whom experienced trouble on the road, back.
Marlon Castillo, Team Santino’s (15th Place)
“I jumped and saw my back wheel behind me and the whole frame of my
bike cracked. So I was going to fall on my face and that is when I clicked out and same time I skated on my foot and Jim Scott came from behind and just knocked me. I fell and waited for a bike. They told me to get in but I wanted to finish this year so the pelathon went for two miles so I adjusted a bike for my size, it was a hurry thing, I jumped on it and chased for a good five miles and got back into the crowd and still came in, in the top ten.”
Greg Lovell, Team Santino’s
“I got a punctured and then coming back I got a spill so this race was really difficult for me. This is the hardest Cross Country I have ever ridden and there were a lot of foreigners in this race. I am still happy with what I did today. I can always try next time. I am young in the sport so I can always try again.”
But Ernest “Jawmaine” Meighan – won’t get to try again. Saturday was his last Cross Country and he was hoping for a more glamorous exit.
Ernest “Jawmaine” Meighan, Team Santino’s
“I wanted to finish at least in the top five position but I was there early around Hattieville but I slipped down. I was with Michael Lewis and the
crowd and I thought the crowd was coming so hard behind there that I said I was wasting my energy and so I should wait for a sprint. But I judged it wrong and the second break came all the way to the tape so I just slipped down.”
Keith Swift,
Do you know in which place you finished?
Ernest “Jawmaine” Meighan,
“No, I just came in the pack. At least I finished and before this race I had the flu so I wasn’t really 100% but I ride good enough. Its been 22 years of riding and this is my 20th Cross Country and I think I need a rest off the bicycle and probably refocus and come back and ride again in another year, you never know. Michael Lewis is 40 years old and he is still rolling and I don’t think I am really done but down the stretch I just think I will come back and try and ride again sometime. But right about now, I just got to take a rest off the bicycle.”
It was Jawmaine’s last Cross Country but it was Ted Shabazz from Roaring Creek’s first. The 18-year-old placed 11th – not bad for a first try.
Ted Shabazz, 11th Place (F&F Mountaineers)
“This is my first Cross Country. I just turned 18, I was a junior last year and I they put me in the seniors because I turned 18 this year so this is my first Cross Country. Next year I think I will ride better because the Tour had put me in a little form for this but next year I will need to train harder and rest my body. That is about all I would say, it is good.”
And as 20 year old Ryan Baumann was crowned the Cross Country champ with the garland and trophies – it will take the hard work of young cyclists like Ted Shabazz and the experience of a legendary cyclist like Michael Lewis to keep the garland home.
Baumann went home with $4,500 in cash from the Ministry of Sports, the garland, 10 DVD movies, and 2 trophies. Second place finisher and first Belizean to cross the finish line Michael Lewis won $2,500 in cash and a bull from Belize Rural North Area Representative Edmund “clear the land” Castro.
The rest of the top 15 finishers are as follows: Café Quetzal’s Neri Velasquez in 3rd place, M&M Engineering’s Carlos Hernandez in fourth, San Cas Red Bull’s Gavriel Epstein in fifth place, Jose Robles from Benny’s Megabytes at 6th place, Lisandro Acju riding for Santino’s placed 7th, Christian McNish from Panama placed 8th, Mateo Cruz riding for San Cas Red Bull finished in 9th place, Darnell Barrow for Benny’s Megabytes finished 10th, Ted Shabazz for F&F Mountaineers at 11th, Jeovanni “Froggie” Leslie from Santino’s 12th place, Bel-Cal’s Dwight Lopez at 13th, Western Spirit’s Anthony Taylor at 14th place, and Marlon Castillo at number 15.
We should note that the top finishers were subjected to drug tests after the race. Again, our overhead video was facilitated by Capital Life, Allied Insurance, and Harry Pilgrim.
