The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Cycling Federation, in conjunction with Viva Cycling, is scheduled to host the first Under-18 and Under-23 Invitational Bahamas Championships this weekend, featuring competitors from the Bahamas, USA and Colombia in a three-race series.

According to organiser Juan Pulido, using the backdrop of “friendship, tolerance and respect between cultures and countries,” Viva Cycling is excited to promote the international championship to the Bahamas and he is confident that the joint effort by the organisers, sponsors and volunteers will make for a fantastic event.

“We are excited to bring in a total of nine international riders, four from Colombia and five from the United States to compete against the local riders,” Pulido said. “They will be coming in on Thursday and will get familiarised with the course, but I think they are all looking forward to coming here and racing in the Bahamas.”

Federation president Roy Colebrooke said in their continued effort to promote the sport, they are already looking at making the second annual Bahamas Invitational bigger and better.

“We are looking at inviting more teams out from the Caribbean,” he said. “I think the word is already out there from our president of the Bahamas Olympic Committee (Wellington Miller), who is travelling today. In his previous meeting at the Pan American Games, he spoke about this race even then.

“This is something put on the calendar where junior riders in the Caribbean can come and have a great event. So I can only see this event growing from strength to strength and I think it’s very important for cycling, not just in the Bahamas, but in the region as a whole.”

John Cox, one of the local organisers, said they are extremely pleased with the generosity of the sponsorship they have received from Bahamas Waste, Doctors Hospital, Cycles Unlimited, Pirates Republic, the Caribbean Bottling Company Limited through Poweraid, the Clifton Heritage Association, Stephen Holowesko and Jeff Major.

“This race is not structured much different from the past stage races we’ve had in the country,” Cox said. “We have three stage races, the first of which is on Saturday, August 8 starting at 8am with the individual time trial, which is approximately six miles that begins at the Clifton Heritage Park and goes around Clifton Pier, South Ocean and back onto Lyford Cay Road.

“The second stage begins at 4pm and it’s on the same six-mile route, but it is a 42-mile circuit race. It’s a seven lap race as a group. All of the junior teams will be racing. It’s a very traditionally fast ride, very challenging for the riders. In both stage races on Saturday, only the junior riders will be racing.”

As the third and final stage race is held on Sunday, starting at 7am covering a 68-mile Airport Circuit race on a four-lap route around the western end of the island, Cox said the juniors will have an opportunity to compete with the open competitors, the majority of whom are expected to come from the local cycling fraternity, to provide a greater participation.

On Friday at 6pm, there will be a pasta buffet at the Poop Deck, Delaporte, which is free to all of the participants, but any one else who wishes to join in will have to pay a fee.

Maria Campbell, representing Cycles Unlimited, said as a sponsor they will be providing some logistical and technical support but, at the same time, they are encouraging parents to bring their children out so that they can learn the concept of team work and discipline.

The winners will be determined by the electronic clocking, which will be accumulated by the positions, and will be awarded more than $5,000 in cash prizes and trophies. In addition to the overall winner and the top three finishers in each stage, there will be the best Bahamian rider and the most aggressive rider.

“You could be the overall winner without winning any of the stage races. It’s the one who accumulates the most points,” Cox said. “I think a lot of people still don’t recognise cycling as a team sport. It’s not really an individual sport. It’s not won by one person alone. It’s structured like the Tour de France. We have done something like this with the Tour de Bahamas a few years ago.”

The nine competitors coming in will be in town on Thursday. The four cyclists from Risaltex out of Colombia are Camilo Amaya, Santiago Calle, Nestor Gomez and Julian Ortiz. The five from the Hot Tubes out of the USA are Jonny Brown, Jack Maddux, Ethan Reynolds, Gage Hecht and Michael Hernandez.