Kris Hedges finished 11th but MacInnis Looby was forced to retire from the men's 48.8 kilometre individual time trial on the outskirts of Maracaibo yesterday.

Hedges completed the event in a time of one hour, nine minutes, 28.734 seconds -- seven minutes behind gold medallist Arango Marlon Perez of Colombia.

He performed particularly well in the first half of the trial, which he completed in 33 minutes 33.33 seconds. That would have put him ninth in the field of 30, and only three minutes off the pace of Cuba's Alvin Tabares Diaz, who was fastest over the first 24.4K.

But Diaz ultimately had to settle for silver, 39 seconds adrift of Perez, who was the last man off.

Cuba also took bronze, Pedro Perez Marquez finishing a further five seconds behind his team-mate.

It wasn't known last night whether Hedges' performance was good enough to qualify him for next month's Commonwealth Games in Malaysia. National cycle coach Greg Hopkins said he believed the teenage rider needed to record an average speed of 44 kph in order to qualify. Word on why Looby was forced to pull out, and at what stage, was not forthcoming late last night. It is understood he was forced to retire early in the event as no time at all was registered for him. Three other competitors who failed to finish had times at the halfway stage.

The results were slow to filter through to the Maracaibo press centre last night despite the event's scheduled early start, with the first rider due off at 10.45 a.m. local time. Reports late in the afternoon suggested that procedings had been delayed because of problems with the course.

However, nobody from the Bermudian delegation could be contacted to provide further details. Chef De Mission Joan Taplin, the only member of the contingent with access to a phone, was a 45-minute plane ride away in Los Piedras, welcoming sailors Brett and Sara Lane Wright who were flying in last night.

And Bermuda Olympic Association's John Hoskins could not be reached despite several calls to his hotel room in the city.

Attempts to reach the team in person also proved fruitless as armed guards turned reporters away at the entrance to the Olympic Village, invoking a rule aimed at keeping journalists at bay after 5.00 p.m.

Cuba's success, meanwhile, helped to propel them into an early lead in the medals table. They took away one gold, three silver and two bronze from the first day of competition.

Perez' gold gave Colombia their only success of the day, while El Salvador and Puerto Rico also got some hardware.

Bermuda's cyclists now have a week of training and acclimatisation until the 180K road race next Sunday, when Mike Lee and Jason Krupp will get their chance to shine.