Top juniors ride in Pennsylvania tour
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Ten of the Island’s most promising cyclists will put their skills to the test at this weekend’s Nicole Reinhart Memorial Tour de FCCC in Pennsylvania.
Bermuda will be represented at this weekend’s Nicole Reinhart Memorial Tour de FCCC in Maxatawny, Pennsylvania.
The event is part of the Lance Armstrong Junior Race Series which will provide 10 of the Island’s promising cyclists with ideal preparation for next month’s Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships in the Dominican Republic.
Flying the Island’s banner in Pennsylvania will be Vashon Cann, Mark Godfrey and Deshi Smith, who will compete in the Boys 17-18 category. Competing in the Boys 15 to 16 age group are Daelan Richardson, Nathaniel Hartwig, Daniel Oatley and Justin Ferreira while Kamryn Minors and Gabriella Arnold will racein the Girls 17-18 and 15-16 categories.
Accompanying the junior cyclists are Bermuda Bicycle Association (BBA) president Peter Dunne and manager Darren Glasford.
Competition begins tomorrow with a 4.2 mile individual time trial followed by a road race in the afternoon. The girls will race 21 miles and the boys 29.4 miles around the same circuit used in the time trial. Racing concludes on Sunday with a criterium of 20 miles (except 25 miles for the older boys) and is held on a 1.1 mile circuit adjacent to the Lehigh Valley Velodrome.
This weekend’s three stage race will provide the Island’s cyclists with the opportunity to compete against a field of juniors from the US.
“We have selected this competition for our riders as the event is just for junior cyclists, allowing them to be the sole focus of the race organiser’s efforts,” said BBA president Dunne. “In local racing our juniors compete against adults and this creates a different dynamic and tends to highlight the disadvantage of racing on ‘junior gearing’.”
In local races cyclists aged 18 and under are required to utilise lighter gearing to avoid developmental injury.
Dunne said that the main objective of entering the Island’s junior cyclists is to enable them to gain race experience in an all-junior field ahead of next month’s Caribbean Championships.
He added: “As we are not able to assess the depth of talent of the other competitors ahead of the first race we are looking for our riders to come away from the weekend with a better understanding of cycling tactics and how to race as a team.”
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Published Jul 20, 2012 at 7:52 am (Updated Jul 20, 2012 at 7:52 am)