TT cyclist praised by managerBy JONATHAN RAMNANANSINGH Wednesday, June 27 2012
NJISANE Phillip’s manager, Peter Maharaj expressed his satisfaction with the progress of his cyclist after he powered to victory in the Men’s Sprint final at the US Grand Prix of Sprinting, which concluded at the Olympic Training Velodrome, Colorado at the weekend.
However, the Olympic-bound rider’s win has been downplayed a bit after the dominant German and Dutch teams opted out the final after a week-long fire in Colorado Springs. Wind blew smoke in the direction of the cycling facility, making it unsuitable for competition.
In the final, Phillip defeated two American cyclists, runner-up Gideon Massie and third placed Andy Lakatosh. Maharaj heaped praises on the local rider for his golden finish but admitted that even if the Germans or Dutch were contesting the final, Phillip would have still delivered a remarkable performance.
He explained, “By the time Njisane passed the pursuit line, which is approximately 20 metres from the time of initiation, he controlled the race and left the competition. The acceleration was so fast, the American duo had no chance of countering the attack. But, Njisane executed the ride as he would have against the Germans.”
Phillip’s manager also revealed that the cyclist will be staying in Colorado for the next three weeks to further develop and enhance his overall athleticism. With Phillip’s first Olympic event carded for August 8, the forthcoming weeks are critical toward his competitive progress.
Within these weeks, the 2012 Colorado Springs Sprint champion will be working with his coach Jamie Staff, track coach Nathan Koch and host of other cycling veterans to ensure that he’s fully covered ahead of his Olympic-berth. Maharaj continued, “He will be in Colorado for three weeks as he finalizes and benefits from altitude training. We are closely monitoring his progress and coach Jamie Staff will continue working with ‘J’. We have several coaches assisting ‘J’, including those in the Olympic gym, and track coach Nate Koch, an assistant to Jamie.”
Over the past few months, both Maharaj, Staff and Phillip’s management team have been building the cyclist through various holistic development programmes. Even though the Siparia-native shattered his 2011 Colorado Springs Sprint record (9.91s) with a blistering 9.775 performance in the qualifying stages, three Germans impressively rode below his time.
Top German cyclist, Robert Forstemann now holds the Colorado Sprint record as he finished in a speedy 9.652s in the qualifiers. Also shattering Phillip’s record were Germans Stefan Nimke with his 9.670s performance while countryman Rene Enders blasted to a 9.749s finish.
