PHILIPSBURG—Three of St. Maarten’s leading mountain bike riders returned victorious to St. Martin after stamping their authority on the 10th Annual 3-day Tri-Bike Championship held in Aruba over the weekend.
Joost Huele won the event overall in the Expert category with Dean Hodge Jr in the same category taking second place overall while Sandra Garnier won the women’s event.
The event was split into three stages, beginning with a BMX-style elimination race on the first day with heats of eight riders, followed by a 30K cross country course on Saturday and eight laps of a course on Sunday.
Aruba’s flat, scrub-like arid terrain contrasts starkly with the greener more mountainous terrain of St. Maarten.
Joost placed first, first and fourth, amassing the most number of points for the three stages. Dean posted three second place finishes and Sandra was a clear winner in her category.
“I had a blast, it was really sweet,” enthused Joost who was using a top-of-the- line ultra-light mountain bike loaned to him for the season by a friend. “It was a no-holds-barred kind of a race.”
The event attracted 167 riders, all categories combined, including children’s races. The expert’s category had 12 riders.
