Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) dominated the 22nd Sri Lanka Air Force Cycle Tour, which was worked off from Colombo to Katunayake on Sunday.
SLPA took major honours in the men’s race as they won the first two places after a close contest which covered a good 148km from Colombo to Katunayake.
Experienced rider Sonal de Silva finished in front while his teammate Chamod de Silva powered his way to secure the runner-up position. “We participated in this race as a team and we had a very good set plan which we executed during the latter stages,” Sonal told the Daily News shortly after the race.
“We had some tough competition from Army and Air Force cyclists initially but we maximised our strength during the last three kilometres to turn things in our favour,” he added.
Meanwhile, the runner-up Chamod de Silva said he was really pleased to be part of the winning team and to secure a podium finish after a very tough competition. The South Asian Games Bronze Medallist said his goal is to win more medals for Sri Lanka and to compete beyond the South Asian level in this sport.
“We had two months of training to focus on this race and I am grateful to Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena and former Army Commander Major General Daya Ratnayake for their assistance.” Prabash Madushanka, who finished the race in third place, said he was initially in the second group but managed to move forward and join the first group of riders during the last eight kilometres.
“I made a desperate attempt to keep up the pace with the rest of the competitors but the pressure was too much and had to settle with the third place,” Madushanka said after the race.
Meanwhile, Udeshani Niranjani from Army retained the Women’s title for the second successive year while pushing two Air Force cyclists Panchali Sulochana and Dinesh Dilrukshi into second and third place respectively.
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