The second edition of the leading sporting events in Africa, Cycling Lagos, has produced winners, closing the sporting year with fun and excitement.
Cyclist Masud Garba on Saturday won a gold medal in the highly competitive tourney beating other male professionals at the grand finale of the 2nd Cycling Lagos.
Masud cycled for 1:09:55 seconds to beat his closest rival, Tijani Quwam who came second with an impressive 1:10:22 seconds while Babatunde Adesina came third with 1:10:34 seconds. Despite the stellar performances of the runners up Masud was a notch ahead.
In the female category, Patricia Nunachi who came first cycled for 59:17:10 seconds to beat Ajibade Elizabeth who came second with 1:14:35 seconds and Ibrahim Ramat came third with 1:16:52 seconds.
An elated Director General of Lagos State Sports Commission, Oluwatoyin Gafaar who spoke at the event and presented medals to winners said: “the Cycling Lagos event is a good move in the right direction, I mean it’s a thing we have been looking for to keep our youth busy at all time and it’s in line with the theme agenda plus of Mr Governor. It’s just one those events we are embarking on to showcase the programme of Mr Governor and ensure the development of sports in the state.
“What we have been doing and what we would continue to do is to support the association in coming up with youth engagement and inclusive programme for both male and female, young and old to keep them busy and prepared for the task ahead. And don’t forget the National Sports Festival is around the corner, even though is in November, but the event is very close.”
While thanking all the partners and sponsors for their support, Gafaar urged the organisers to keep doing what they are doing as history will judge at the end of the day.
On his part, the convener of Cycling Lagos and the Managing Director of Brand Escort Communications, Bamidele Adeleye said: “Nigeria is blessed with lots of talented young cyclists who are capable of representing the country at various international competitions and a good example is Masud Garba.”
“For us at Cycling Lagos, we are of the view that the government and corporate organisations need to continue to work together to engage the cyclists locally through various competitions such as this to prepare them for international events,” Bamidele stated.
Cycling Lagos is an annual cycling event that brings interested participants from different parts of the country to compete. The 2nd edition of Cycling Lagos, one of the biggest cycling competitions in Africa, began with a children race on Saturday October 21, 2023 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.
The 2nd Cycling Lagos event with the theme, Greener Ride was designed to promote a lifestyle that is environmentally friendly.
The grand finale of the competition which took off from Teslim Balogun Stadium to Dolphin Estate and back to the stadium was made up of 52km race for male and 42km race for female.
The event which was in partnership with Lagos State Sports Commission and Lagos State Cycling Association was supported by Seven-Up Bottling Company, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc and others.
