In a less than spectacular finish, Guatemalan Paola Salazar, riding for Team Sagitun, clenched the garland on Sunday in the 29th Female Cross Country Cycling Classic. Seventeen female riders, five of them foreigners, set out on the seventy mile ride from San Ignacio to Belize City on Sunday. Belizean Gina Lovell riding for Team Lovell had an early lead but Salazar broke out of the pack at Georgeville and maintained her lead to Belize City, sweeping all the station prizes except one. She rode solo into the city and across the finish line in a time of four hours, six minutes, and eighteen seconds. Nine minutes and eight seconds after Salazar’s stride to victory, there was a dash for second place with Gina Lovell clinching second, returning champ Shalini Zabaneh of Sagitun and Lori Harkey of Hencapi Team tying for third and Marinette Flowers in fourth place. It is an unspectacular win for Salazar when compared to last year’s finish in a time of four hours, four minutes, and thirty-six seconds. Salazar who rides on the Guatemalan national team won a trophy and ,000 in cash.Â
