Elliot Hubbard is presently in Bogota, Colombia preparing for his toughest test yet...the World Amateur Championships.

After what appeared to be a major setback in his cycling career in July when his French-based team Mimosa Sprint Mandelieu folded, the 21-year-old cyclist bounced back with tremendous results in the US after joining the Tri-state Velo team based in Philadelphia.

Gearing up for the World Amateurs, Hubbard had a top 20 finish at the Tour de Toona, and went on to compete in the prestigious Killington Stage Race -- held over five stages -- where he placed fifth ahead of many of the top US pros.

The Bermudian has also spent two weeks in Boulder, Colorado training at altitude, as did many of the world's top professionals including five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain, before flying out to Colombia last week.

Hubbard's participation in the championships will be on October 7 in the road race in Duitama on a course which has been criticised by many of the world's cyclists, including current world champion Luc LeBlanc who has stated that it is too tough. LeBlanc has predicted that many of the riders will not finish the race.

Covering 177 kilometres over ten 17.7 kilometre laps, the riders will only find three kilometres of flat roads before climbing 1,155 feet. With the race starting at 8,360 feet above sea level up to 9,515 feet they will have to contend with the energy sapping effects of the altitude as well as the steep inclines and dangerous decents.

Hubbard has already proven to be a formidable climber, with strong performances in last year's Commonwealth Games in Canada and the mountain stages of the Killington Race, but he has never faced the type of conditions expected for next week's race.

However, he is confident of producing a strong finish despite being in his usual position of having no team members to help him. He will likely be the only individual competitor in the race.

A good finish will be important to Hubbard as a number of top US professional teams have expressed an interest in signing him for the 1996 season.

Elliot Hubbard