Anthony Boakye Boafo put up a spirited display to emerge the overall winner of the 2022 Tour du Ghana cycling race which ended at Ablekuma-Olebu in Accra on Monday.
The 26-year-old retained his yellow jersey from Stage One on Wednesday to clinch the ultimate prize at the grand finale (stage five) which was completed in a time of 2:38:20 with 62 cyclists participating in the 97.5km criteria race of 12 laps.
He walked away with a gold medal, a cash prize of GH¢5,000 and products from Cowbell.
The Bono region River Park Cycling Club’s lad also won the overall green jersey (best by points) and took home another cash prize of GH¢2,500.
The overall blue jersey (best by time team) was won by The Boss Tribe(TBT) Cycling Club for their collective efforts during the event.
Fidel Tchalem from Royal Stars Cycling Club won the red jersey (best fighter) while Alexander Allotey from TBT was adjudged the best youngest cyclist (white jersey).
The ‘green and white’ jersey which signified the overall stage winner was won by Laurent Dedenu from Royal Stars after winning two stages of the event including the final stage.
Former national champion, Frank Akuffo of TBT followed in second position on the final day while Joseph Nii Quaye Amar of Team Sky Club settled for third place.
The 10 best cyclists and a few senior cyclists including Christian Adiabor, Joshua Packer, Nuru Padi Alhassan and Peter Asare were rewarded for their commitment towards the growth of the sport in the country.
The five-day event began on Wednesday with an Accra-Winneba-Accra trip, Accra-Suhum-Accra trip on Thursday and an Accra-Dodowa-Larteh-Accra trip on Friday.
The event then took a break on Saturday to observe the Eid-dul-Adha holidays and resumed on Sunday with Stage Four Accra-Sogakope-Ada Junction trip.
It was climaxed with the final stage at Ablekuma on Monday.
Addressing participants, the President of the Ghana Cycling Federation (GCF) Mr Mohammed Sahnoon congratulated cyclists for their efforts in ensuring an incident free and successful event.
He said, the GCF would organise more of such events to keep cyclists in good shape to compete favourably in international championships.
BY MICHAEL D.ABAYATEYE
