’09 Tour De Marianas, Jazy Cup all set

Preparations are now underway for the 2009 Tour De Marianas and Annual Jazy Cup cycling tournament with the first two stages to be held on Saipan on Feb. 21-22.

This year’s race will be sponsored by TakeCare and sanctioned by the Jazy Garcia Sports Foundation.

It would be the second year that the Tour De Marianas is held, while the Jazy Cup is now on its eighth year.

A strong field of Guam riders dominated the race last year here on Saipan with Joseph Husslein and Chiyo Grabrille Lombard winning the overall expert male and female divisions, respectively.

The first stage of the race on Feb. 21 will be the individual time trials with a distance of 7.5 kilometers, covering the course from Marianas Country Club to the Hill Top of Suicide Cliff.

This race will be opened for expert, novice and mountain bike categories.

Stage 2 will be Feb. 22 for the road race starting at the American Memorial Park with a distance of 67 km. for the expert class, and 33.5 km. for the novice and mountain bike categories.

Application forms are now available at Romy’s Bike Shop and Auto Glass Pro.

The other two stages of the tournament will be held in Guam in March.

The third stage will be on March 14 with a distance of 76 km. for the expert class, 52 km. for novice, and 26 km. for mountain bike, covering the course from Ace Hardware Yigo via scenic locations on Guam and back.

And on March 15, stage 2 will start and finish at the Agana Shopping Center. This race covers a distance of 60 km. for the expert division and 34 km. for novice and mountain bike races.

Interested competitors may now get application forms at the Hornet Sporting Goods. Prizes for this year’s event are the following:

– Saipan stage overall winners male and female expert get to take home $300 and medal for first place, $200 and a medal for second, and $100 and a medal for third;

– Guam stage overall winners—Top 3 male and female expert—gets $300 and medal for first place, $200 and a medal for second, and $100 and a medal for third;

– The Tour De Marianas Top 3—male and female expert—get $500 and a trophy for first, $300 and a trophy for second, and $200 and a trophy for third; and

– Top 3 for expert, novice, and mountain bike categories also will win trophies or medals.

Entry fee for stages 1 and 2 is $35 and $60 for stages 1 to 4.

Those who prefer to compete in one stage need to fork over $25.

For more information, contact Saipan race organizers Alex Goson at 235-5963 or Ronald Villafria at 483-2388.

Guam race organizers are Johan Sobredo at 1-671-688-8836 and Jazy/Mylene Garcia at 1-671-637-4347.