January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.

Sousa's had to battle Mono to get fit for Packwood race


Defending cycling champ Ricky Sousa jnr has recovered from a bout of the energy sapping blood disease, Mono, and is ready to defend his title.

Sousa, 16, was the surprise winner last time around, pipping luckless Wayne Scott, whose chain got tangled in the sprint to the finish line.

But the teenager, who has returned from school in New Hampshire to compete, has had a troubled build up this time.

"I've been sick, a lot, lately. I haven't had the best of luck so far this year. Hopefully this will be a turnaround point."

Sousa came down with mononucleosis, more commonly known as Mono, in March this year.

"I was down for about a month-and-a-half. Usually March is when you start kicking into gear but I still haven't started kicking it up yet. I was able to train a little bit but not too hard."

Sousa has also had his final exams to contend with and has only really been able to train in the last few weeks.

Even so, he was relatively optimistic about his chances.

"I wouldn't say I'm not ready. But I'm not as ready as I could have been. I definitely think I have a chance, there's four or five people out there that can win it."

Just about everybody is tipping Garth Thompson, who powered to victory in last weekend's time trial, to win.

And Sousa can see why.

"He's definitely the one to watch out for, but anything can happen. People say he's going to win but he might have bad luck or make a wrong decision.

"It's a very tactical race. Strength does come into it but it's a real smarts race. It takes patience and a strong finish."

Sousa, who will compete in the Island Games in July and has aspirations to race professionally, reckons Wayne Scott and Mark Hatherley will be the other main challengers.

"There's a couple of guys that have a chance. It's such a short race that anyone can come out on top."[[In-content Ad]]

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