BERMUDA’S young cyclists were this week given a work-out by US pro coach Jonathan Vaughters who stressed that dedication and effort were necessary if they are to follow in the footsteps of his team member Tyler Butterfield.And Vaughters said Butterfield himself has plenty of work to do if he is to realise his dream of being the first Bermudian to compete in a Tour de France.

Vaughters, a former US Postal member who rode with legend Lance Armstrong, set up US professional team SlipStream Sports to attract North America’s best young talent for the Tour de France.

But he said Butterfield, who swapped from French team Vendee-U to join Vaughters, might more realistically be aiming at 2010.

Vaughters said Butterfield was putting in about 30,000 kilometres a year.

“Right now he’s probably doing upwards of 1,000 kilometres a week in training,” he told the Mid-Ocean News.

Next Thursday Butterfield begins the Route Du Soud, a Tour de France warm-up in southern France which Vaughters himself won in 1999.

Covering around 600 kilometres over four days Butterfield will be up and down the Pyrenees against elite riders eyeing the bigger prize.

Road racing at any level is about tactics said Vaughters who added that Butterfield still had a lot to learn on that score.

Vaughters said: “He has a ways to go before he really understands the culture and tactics of cycling. He’s a strong kid for sure.

“It’s very subtle — you have to be able to read a race to see when the good riders are moving to the front and the moment the race starts to break apart. There’s a lot of nuances to positioning yourself properly.

“Sometimes you can be at the very back and it has no effect, sometimes you need to be at the very front. And you have to judge that moment exactly — to change to use your energy to go to the very front or back.”

It’s still an open question on how far Butterfield can go.

“He’s not a Tour de France winner but maybe he’s someone who could finish the Tour de France for sure.

“It would be hard for him to make it next year. There is only a nine-rider selection which we go with.

“Maybe down the line — 2010 or thereabouts, he might be at a level to achieve that.”

And Vaughters is also keeping his eye on Bermuda’s next generation and took out the junior riders on Tuesday for a 40-mile session around the island involving sprint work and team tactics. The group included Tom Godfrey, Aaron Place and Timmy Fox.

“I am just trying to get them to have a work ethic. If they want to do well they really need to be putting in 300 to 400 kilometres a week, as soon as school is out you need to be out on your bike.

“It is hard with kids of high school age to get them up to thinking of that level of training. It takes real level of dedication.”