Ashen and Sriyalatha — the cycling idols of 2016
Twenty-two-year old Ashen Tharuka of Sri Lanka Air Force emerged as the men’s overall champion at the Tour De Air Force which concluded in front of the SLAF Headquarters in Colombo Fort yesterday.
The final phase of the race in progress before it came to an end in Colombo opposite Rifle Green - Pix by Amila Gamage
The event was held in three stages. The first stage was to a distance of 163 km from Colombo to Embilipitiya. The second stage was from Weerawila to Koggala. Dist. 131km. The third stage was from Koggala to Colombo, a distance of 113 km.
It took Ashen Tharuka a time of 10 hrs. 01mts. 21 secs to complete the race. Overall second place went to Lakshman Wijeratne of the Sri Lanka Army with a time of 10 hrs. 01mts. 26secs. The third place was taken by Nishantha Perera of Dehiwela-Mt. Lavinia Municipal Council returning a time of 10 hrs.01mt. and 28secs.
Jeevan Jayasinghe who bagged two Gold Medals at the recently concluded 12th South Asian Games (SAG) had to be satisfied with the seventh place. In the final stage from Koggala to Colombo Jeevan finished first.
Jeevan Jayasinghe carried away the award for the overall sprinter. In the under 23 category the overall youngster was Ashen Tharuka of the SLAF. Veteran rider Sriyalatha Wickremasinghe of Ranjith Anura Cycling Club Anuradhapura won the women’s race easily which was to a distance of 65.8kms from the Air Force Ekala Camp, Nittambuwa and ending up in Colombo. She took one hour, 47 minutes and 35 seconds. Sriyalatha is a Silver Medal winner at the 12th SAG. Second was Sudarika Priyadarshani of the SLAF with a time of 1 Hr. 56 mts. 06 secs. Third was Dinesha Dilrukshi of the SLAF with the same time of second place winner.
Ashen Tharuka, the star
After the event SAG Gold Medal winner Jeevan Jayasinghe said that every rider was targeting to defeat him and it became a big challenge. “However it was two riders from my group who won the first and second stages and so I did pose a big challenge to them.”
The race was held to mark the 67th celebrations of the Sri Lanka Air Force and the race was held to mark the event.