46th National Sports Festival cycling race today

By Susil Premalal reporting from Kataragama

The cycling race of the 46th National Sports Festival for both men and women will begin from the Kataragama bus stand today, the Sports Ministry has decided.

The 159.8km cycling race will be conducted over four rounds running through from Kataragama to Sella Kataragama and back. The qualifiers from provincial competitions will see 158 riders taking part in this Open cycle race.
The Sri Lanka Cycling Officials Association president Upul Chandana told the ‘Daily Mirror’ that 20 experienced officials have been selected  to officiate at this national event.

The men’s race is set to start at 6.30 am while the women's race will begin at 4 pm. There are 78 riders for the women’s race which will be run across the same route as the men’s race but will be over two rounds.
At the 2019 National Sports Festival cycling event, Avishka Medonza of Western province and Madushani Ranasinghe of North Central Province won the men’s and women’s titles respectively.

The winners of both races will get cash awards of LKR 50,000 each from the sponsors Nestle Lanka Limited. 
Meanwhile, the race walking event was won by Army athletes Sandaruwan Dunukara (men’s) clocking 1:39.18 and Kalhari Madirika (women’s) with a time of 1:51.19.