Dominique Mayho and Zoenique Williams are hoping to defend their National Criterium titles on Sunday ahead of their trip to Veracruz, Mexico, next week to compete in the Central American and Caribbean Games.

Mayho, Williams and Nicole Mitchell make up the three cyclists in Bermuda’s 41-strong CAC team. Their trip to Mexico for the gruelling road race will be a short one, leaving next Thursday, racing on Sunday, the 23rd, and returning home the next day.

The trio last month competed in the Elite Caribbean Cycling Championships (CCC) in Puerto Rico, where Williams claimed silver medal in the road race for the second straight year to secure a spot for Bermuda at next year’s Pan Am Games in Toronto.

Mitchell, who won the bronze in the road race last year at the CCC, had to settle for sixth in the road race, although she did win the bronze medal in the individual time-trial for the second successive year.

Bermuda’s men’s team of Mayho, Darren Glasford and Mark Hatherley did not fare so well in Puerto Rico as officials pulled them out of the road race after completing three of the five laps on the hilly 138-kilometre course. Mayho expects the CAC to be even more competitive.

“After the Caribbean Championships I had a bit of a break, about two weeks, so now I’m building back up,” said Mayho, who like his team-mates, will use the National Criterium as final preparation.

“This (CAC Games) is so late in the season that I’m building up for next season. I just want to stay in the race as long as possible and see how it goes. It’s going to be a really hard race with a lot of strong guys. The Colombians are going to be there, they are one of the best teams in the world. All the Central American teams are going to be really strong along with Mexico.

“I went to the Pan Am Championships in May and those guys, especially the Colombians, controlled the whole race, they destroyed everybody.”

The Bermuda cyclists are still not aware of the distances for the two road races, but expect it to be in the region of 90 to 110 miles for the men and 50 to 60 for the women.

“I can handle that, just depends on how fast,” said Mayho, who plans to race for a few months in Belgium next season.

“That’s where all the top guys go and race to try to make it in cycling,” said Mayho, who spent a year in France training and competing a couple of years ago.

“It’s pretty much finalised. I’m looking to go from the beginning of March to the middle of June, then come back for the National Championships and hopefully go back after the Island Games [in Jersey] in July.”

As the defending champion of the National Criterium, Mayho has a big interest in Sunday’s race on Front Street.

“That’s really important, I want to defend my title, but that’s me, every race I enter I want to win it,” said Mayho, who expects a tough challenge from Shannon Lawrence, Glasford and Hatherley.

“I haven’t raced for a while so it should be fun. Shannon is probably the strongest guy, along with Darren and Mark, who are strong also.”

Williams is also looking for a good performance on Sunday as she puts her women’s title on the line. Despite silver medals in the last two Caribbean Championships, Williams knows the competition will be even stiffer in her first CAC Games.

“We’re dealing with women from Mexico and Colombia and it will definitely be tougher and I’m looking forward to it to see how I match up with these girls,” said Williams, who has been riding competitively for only 2½ years.

“No extra pressure, I want to do good but I just have to be aware of other people. This is my first Games so I don’t know what to expect, not like Nicole who went to the Commonwealth Games, which is big. I’m excited to see where I can take this.

“I’m feeling pretty good, the only thing that is not going to be on my side is nerves, I get nervous all the time, even for races in Bermuda. I know I’m definitely going to be nervous.”

Mitchell has confirmed her participation in Sunday’s Criterium when she and Williams are expected to be the main female contenders.

“Unfortunately, with the Championships having been postponed [because of Hurricane Gonzalo], I think the field will be rather small as most riders are taking time off or preparing for the mountain bike season at this point in the year,” said Mitchell, who lost her Criterium title to Williams last year.

“As for CAC Games, I will be going to gain further experience for next year. The level of racing will be higher than that of the Caribbean [Championships] with countries like Colombia and Mexico there.”

Sunday’s IBC Bermuda National Criterium Championships course will take the cyclists from the start on Front Street, around the Birdcage, up Burnaby Street, right on to Reid Street and right on to Court Street and back to Front Street. Racing starts at 8am with pee wee races.