Kaden Hopkins punched his winning ticket after stepping out of Matthew Oliveira’s shadow to seize the Sinclair Packwood Memorial Race yesterday.

The 17-year-olds have provided a fascinating narrative to the island’s men’s cycling scene during the past year, although it has been Oliveira who has more often than not dominated the headlines.

Hopkins, however, could not have picked a bigger local stage, certainly in terms of atmosphere and prestige, to buck that trend and become the first son of a champion to win the race.

His father, Greg Hopkins — who describes the race as the closest thing to a lottery in Bermuda — won the title in 1999, the first year it was named after Sinclair Packwood.

Dubbed as the “Matthew and Kaden show” during the build-up, it was Hopkins who managed to get his nose in front approaching the all-important final corner into Cedar Avenue. He timed his move just right to deliver a decisive blow to Oliveira’s hopes of defending the title he won for the first time last year.

“I knew it was likely to come down to a sprint and I knew how I wanted to play it,” Hopkins said. “The race is so short and there’s so much hype and adrenalin that it’s almost impossible to get away on your own.

“Nobody has won this race if they’re not coming through the last corner on the first wheel; it’s just too hard to make up time on a downhill as you can only go so fast on a bike.

“I knew I had to make my move before the corner and it worked out. I had enough room at the end to hold Matthew off.”

Hopkins, fifth last year, admits he feels as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders after finally getting the better of Oliveira, his Winners Edge team-mate. “I’ve been working hard towards it all season, but it’s been so hard because Matt’s such a strong rider,” he said.

“Much like the [Bermuda Butterfield] Grand Prix [when Hopkins finished runner-up] it came down to who was in the better position on the day.”

Hopkins finished in a time of 29min 09.890sec, with Oliveira closely behind in 29:11.894 and Conor White rounding out the top three for Winners Edge in 30:01.408.

Oliveira, the pre-race favourite, was gracious in defeat and said that Hopkins had simply made a better decision at the crucial time.

“He had the edge on me today,” he said. “I was badly positioned in front [approaching the final corner] and it’s my fault. I should have been behind him and at the very least not let him draft off me.

“The speed is so fast coming around that corner it’s hard to pick it up even faster. There’s just no energy left for you to stand up and spring your hips. I was just stuck in my seat.”

There was also a first-time winner in the women’s competition as Alyssa Rowse beat off competition from Madison pair Zoenique Williams and Ashley Estwanik who completed the podium.

Rowse, also 17, was competing in the women’s category for the first time and said the victory was extra special given the depth of talent on display.

“I thought it was going to be a hard race because there were some really strong women this year,” said Rowse, of Bicycle Works.

Rowse, who finished in 32:51.629, teamed up with Williams (32:51.725) after Estwanik (32:54.050) made an early break, the pair rotating the lead and dictating the pace.

“It’s was definitely a team effort because Ashley went from the start and me and Zoenique hopped on and then rotated a lot,” Rowse said. “Me and Zoenique did have a little tactic and were trying to sit back a bit more and save some energy for the finish. That worked to our favour.

“It’s a big accomplishment and locally this is definitely one of the bigger races.”