With great expectation for an exciting race, 35 riders took the start in Paget today for the eighth edition of this round the island competition. With all of Bermuda’s top road cyclists back on island and registered to race it was clearly going to be one of the better races in recent memory. And as the race unfolded, the expected leaders began showing that they are deserving of their accolades.
After some early action in the east end, a clear separation from the pack was established at Shark Hole by Tyler Smith, Conor White, Kaden Hopkins, Nic Narraway, Liam Flannery, Zander Miller, Caitlin Conyers and defending champion Dominique Mayho.
These pre-race favorites then began trading attacks with Flannery, Smith and Narraway making a strong move on South Road in Warwick and then holding an advantage over the others all the way to Watford Bridge in Sandys. Though dropped from the leaders by Port Royal Golf Course, Conyers eventually teamed up with a chasing Steve Smith for the remainder of the 55 mile race.
Up front, as the race turned in Dockyard to head back to the finish line in Paget, Narraway attacked by St. James Church in Somerset, getting a good gap on the rest. White was the first to respond and eventually made contact with Narraway and the two then began the hard work of holding off the chasers as a unit while preparing for a dramatic finish. Narraway lead on to Harbour Road but White was able to turn his power into a winning effort which brought him across the line first and earning the coveted trophy in a time of 2:18:03. Narraway was second with the same time, chasing behind, Miller finished in third in 2:18.16, with the same time as Hopkins and Mayho and Flannery was 15 seconds behind, having experienced a mechanical problem at the very last stages of the race.
Conyers clocked 2:24.11 finishing 9th overall, teenager Liana Medeiros was the second female on the podium finishing 27th with a time of 2:52.22, and Jennifer Lightbourne rounded out the podium finishing 29th overall with a time of 2:52.22.
This concludes an extended 2021 road racing calendar for the BBA which has persisted despite the numerous scheduling difficulties created by the pandemic. Looking ahead to 2022, the elite men are planning to participate in the Vuelta Indpendencia Dominicana in late February to further their racing as a national team. With the inaugural Caribbean Games and Commonwealth Games in the calendar for some and many of this top group racing with overseas teams in 2022, it should prove to be another exciting year of road racing for Bermuda’s cyclists.
Click Here to see the Full 2021 Bermuda Bicycle Association’s President Cup Results
|
