GUJRAT, March 14: Kiwi cyclist Robin Read’s dream run on the wheels continued on Wednesday when he comprehensively won the 115-km 9th stage of the 13th Tour-de-Pakistan International cycle race from Lahore to Gujrat, his third stage win since the race started on March 4.

Read clocked 2 hours, 54 minutes and 16 seconds, 8 seconds ahead of his countryman Justin Kerr, another Tour de Pakistan favourite. Zahid Gulfam of Pakistan Railways gave his best performance of the event by rounding up the top three in 2 hours, 54 minutes and 28 seconds. Gulfam was closely followed by Imran Sharif of SSGC, and Canadians Matthew Usborne and Larry Zimich Wayne who finished fifth and sixth positions respectively.

Earlier in the morning, Mian Amir Mehmood, District Nazim Lahore awarded the yellow jersey to Justin Kerr, the winner of the 8th stage from Sahiwal to Lahore as hundreds of cycling enthusiasts cheered them on. Meanwhile, on the 13th of March which was the rest day of the two-week cycling extravaganza, Lt. General (R) Khalid Maqbool announced an award of $30,000 for the top six cyclists of each of the eight stages at a dinner held at Dinshaw Hall by the Pakistan Cycling Federation. —Agencies