Bermuda's top cyclist Elliott Hubbard lay 64th after stage three of the Redlands Classic -- but struggled in his best event of the six-stage race last night.

Hubbard, a member of the US Navigators team, was expected to have his best ride in yesterday's 95-mile Point to Point on a rolling, weaving course 60 miles east of Los Angeles with a climb of 5000 feet in the final ten miles.

But he e-mailed the Island's national coach Greg Hopkins after finishing to say that he "hadn't had his climbing legs on'' and had lost some time.

However, Hopkins cautioned the Bermuda public about reading too much into Hubbard's final result at the Classic, the largest stage race in the US.

"Last night's race would have been his biggest strength,'' said Hopkins, "but I know for a fact he is under no pressure to do anything in the event.

Navigators are just looking for him to ride into fitness.

"In these major teams, the season is so long they prepare certain riders to peak at certain times. Elliott's season started in February and ends in November so you can't expect someone to peak week after week for ten months.

They're obviously looking towards some other event for him.

"For example, if you look at the US Pro Championships, Elliott will obviously not be used as a major factor because he's not from the US and can't win the championships anyway. So his job will be to support the rest of the team.

"However, if he's somewhere around the top 50 at the moment, the team will be very pleased with him. He must be riding as well as, if not better than expected.'' His position going into yesterday's race left him with an overall time of 2:57.24, almost two minutes down on leader Frank McCormack of the US Saturn team.

However, Hopkins pointed out that Hubbard could have made up a good deal of that ground with a good performance in his favoured Point to Point.

The two remaining stages, today and tomorrow, are the 90 minute timed run and an 88-mile race.

Riders from 12 countries are taking part in the event, which the US is using as one of the qualifiers for the Pan American Games.