Defending champion, Henry Tetteh Djangmah of Die Hard won the yellow jersey with overall best time after stage 9 of the tour. He was poised to take the yellow Jersey after the most grueling stage of the Cowbell national cycling tour. “I have been waiting for this stage since day one of the tour to show them that I am the best climber” said Henry in an interview with Joy Sports. With consistent pace and power during the ‘queen stage’ of the cycling competition, Henry together with Victor Cudjoe of All Stars and Aminu Mohammed Osam of Pace Setters impressed cycling fans in the Eastern region. They did so by taking a 3km lead after the second major climb at Manfe and sustained their pace line lead to the finish line at Jackson park in Koforidua. President of the tour, George Adou, prior to the race described the stage as “the stage that will separate the boys from the men” The race included two major steep climbs: Akwaba Hill and Manfe Hill. The men were separated from the boys at these hills. Henry broke away at Akwaba Hill but his lead did not stand the test of time as he was quickly swallowed by Victor and Aminu. The defending champion then changed his strategy and allowed his decoy-one of his team mates- also known as a ‘domestique’ to take the lead. That strategy made his main rivals to work harder to catch up with his ‘domestique’ as he stayed back conserving his energy to prepare for a major break away. The bunch fell for his trick and when he made his move, they could not maintain the tempo. Victor and Aminu also had other ideas by holding him in check as the ‘big three’ broke away with a distance of almost 3 km and were never swallowed throughout the race. The total distance covered was 105km with only one cyclist unable to complete the race. After the criterium which ended at Jackson Park, John Zomelo was quickest to finish at the first Hot spot. He was later overtaken by Aminu Mohammed Osman who won the subsequent Hot spots at Manfe, Adukrom and Nkorakan (towns in the eastern Region). Aminu Osam also won the stage with a sprint finish ahead of 18 year old sensation Victor Cudjoe and Henry Tetteh Djangmah who were second and third respectively. Aminu’s impressive feat was not enough to win any of the jerseys. Victor Cudjoe replaced Isaac Sackey of Young Stars as the best youngest rider of the tour by winning the White jersey. He is the closest rider to wrestle the prestigious yellow jersey from the defending champion. Victor is now second in the overall standings by time; he follows closely behind Henry by 28 seconds with the difference meaning any slip by Henry will be futile in his quest to retain his title. Victor is only 18 years old and this is his first major tournament. “I believe I can win and I’ll do my best to fight any break away” said Victor after the race. Samuel Anim is still the most combative rider of the tour (red jersey); he doubles as the rider with the most accumulated points (green jersey) because of his exploits at the Hot spots. Samuel has now won a total cash of GH¢4900.00 rendering him the most earned cyclist of the tour with two stages to the end of the tour. However, the most wanted yellow jersey still eludes him.