President of the Cycling Federation of Nigeria, CFN, Chief Giadomenico Massari has commended Team Nigeria female cyclists for putting up a respectable performance at the just concluded UCI Nations Cup in Glasgow, Scotland.
According to Chief Massari, the five female cyclists, Ese Ukpeseraye, Tawakalt Yekeen, Mary Samuel, Grace Ayuba and Treasure Coxson did well, adding “considering the level of other participants, their performance was okay but a lot of improvement is required”.
The CFN president said that the Nigerian cyclists competed with the best cyclists in the world, disclosing that the Italian squad had many Olympic and World Champions.
“We got good points that will be important for our qualification to World Championships and the Olympics,” he said.
He added that while Ukpeseraye’s time in the Keirin event improved from 15.6.23 secs to 13.1.28secs, that of Tawakalt reduced from 16.4.68secs to 17.9.79secs.
The Secretary General of the CFN, Makpa Aliyu Shammah led the Team Nigeria delegation which included a mechanic, Auwalu Yakubu, a female coach, Angela Okoro and an Italian coach, Vincenzo Ceci, seconded to Nigeria by the world cycling body to assist the cyclists in preparation for the competition.
