of Havana where they are competing in the Small Countries World Championships.

SMALL COUNTRIES CYCLING CYC Steve Sterritt, the Island's top rider last year, was the top local finisher in the 40K time trial with a time of 54:31. That placed him fourth with an average speed of a little over 44 kph. Veteran Jeff Payne finished 11th in 55:45.

In the kilometre time trial on the track, MacInnis Looby, who won bronze in 1996, put in a faster time of one minute, 16.36 seconds, but it lifted him only to seventh place behind overall winner John Cumberbatch of Barbados.

Cumberbatch finished in just over one minute, nine seconds.

However, Looby made up for his disappointment yesterday when he placed third in the 4000 metre pursuit in a time of five minutes, 34.25 seconds with an average speed of 43.08 kph.

The winner of the event was Michael Vernon, from the Cayman Islands, who recorded a time of five minutes, 14.35 seconds. He had an average speed of 45.80 kph.

Attention now turns to today's road race, the main event of the championships, which sees all the local riders -- Looby, Sterritt, Payne, Mike Lee and Kevin Topple -- in action.