The duo of Preye Dede and Tonbrapa Grikpa emerged the winners in the July edition of the Port Haarcourt monthly cycling competition.
Preye Dede won in the professional male category and Tonbrapa Grikpa clinching the first position in the female category.
Also in the male professional male category, Timi Abaka and Innocent Emmanuel came second and third positions respectively, while in the female professional category, Rosemary Marcus, came second and Ese Akpeseraye occupied the third position.
Chief Coach of Rivers State Association, Emmanuel Onasanya said competition is geared towards ensuring that his athletes are fit for the forthcoming festivals later in the year.
According to him, currently, they are preparing their Under 15 athletes for the National Youth Games (NYG) coming up in a month’s time.
“This is part of our preparations. One thing is to train; another one is to attend the competition. But I must say that we are ever ready to attend any competition and compete favourably.
“As I speak Team Rivers is the defending champions in National Sports Festival and we are ready to defend it in Abuja later this year”, “he said.
He noted that bicycle parts and allowances of athletes are the challenges facing the association.
The coach explained that some of the athletes are facing financial difficulties and appealed to the authorities to start paying them allowances.
