Battling heat, humidity and bumpy roads, the six-man squad of Mike Lee, Steve Sterritt, Jeff Payne, Kevin Topple, MacInnis Looby and Jason Krupp completed the event on the weekend with the 125-kilometre road race.

Sixty riders representing 16 countries started the race but the conditions resulted in only 28 -- including Sterritt and Lee -- finishing. Punished by muggy, 100-degree temperatures, Looby, Topple and Krupp were some of the last to retire, after 90 kilometres.

Jules Tresor of Guadeloupe broke away in the final 800 metres to take the gold. Sterritt finished 12th and Lee 28th.

Payne, who finished 11th in the 40km time trial, was knocked out of the road race after being involved in a three-rider crash that left him with minor injuries.

RUGBY RUG A wake in memory of Scots-born rugby enthusiast Lindsay Mailer is to be held tomorrow at the Belmont Hotel Golf Club bar.

Mr. Mailer's wife, Ann, said her husband -- a keen golfer who regularly played at Belmont -- had joked only days before he died that, if anything happened to him, the club was where he would like his wake to be held.

The Scots-born accountant, who worked for the West End Development Company, died on May 30 at age 51 after suffering two strokes. He was buried last week in his home town of Perth.

The former captain and coach of Mariners RFC lived in Bermuda for 12 years.

Mr. Mailer, who also organised the Scottish Support Group, which helped fund trips by former Scots rugby greats to the Island's World Rugby Classic, was honoured by the sport in Scotland.

Ann Mailer said: "It was a very nice service, very upbeat, which Lindsay would have liked, with the message that we should spend more time with each other.'' The memorial will be held at the Belmont Golf Club bar on Friday, between 5.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m.

SAILING SLG Paula Lewin will have to wait for another chance to reclaim the number one spot in the Women's World Match Racing rankings.

Despite a resounding victory in the Santa Maria Cup last week, Lewin still finds herself in second spot behind Betsy Allison in the ISAF rankings, released this week.

Allison, who took over the number one ranking from Lewin by virtue of her win in the World Championships in March, entered the Annapolis regatta with a lead of nearly 900 ranking points.

But the American skipper could only manage third and now has 8,316 points through nine events, 334 up on Lewin.

Allison is now ranked 20th among all sailors, while Lewin, Bermuda's two-time Female Athlete of the Year, moved up eight spots to 23rd overall with her total of 7,972 points in ten events.

Peter Gilmour heads the overall tables with 12,138 points.