Five young cyclists are in Belize to represent Bermuda at the Caribbean Junior Road Cycling Championships this weekend.

Jacob Wright and Keon Stevens will be racing in the junior men, while in the juvenile men Bermuda’s flag will be flown by Jonah MacGuinness, Dylan Eiselt and Jens Drea.

Wright and Stevens return to the championships after making their debuts in Barbados last year, while MacGuinness, Eiselt and Drea are set to make their first appearances at the regional competition.

In 2025, Wright earned a bronze medal in the juvenile men’s individual time-trial, prior to producing an aggressive performance in the road race. Stevens also gained valuable international experience in his championship debut, which marked his first competition outside Bermuda.

Tomorrow, Bermuda’s representatives will be competing in the individual time-trial, before they take part in the road race the next day.

Before racing begins, Bermuda’s riders will join the other participating nations for the official national team presentation on Friday at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza.

Peter Dunne, the Bermuda Bicycle Association president, is part of the support staff, together with Darren Glasford and Che’quan Richardson.

“This is an exciting team that combines returning championship experience with three riders competing at this level for the first time,” Dunne said.

“Representing Bermuda at a regional championship is an important step in a young rider’s development.

“We are looking forward to seeing each of them embrace the opportunity, support one another and compete with determination.”

Dunne indicated that without much insight into what the Bermuda riders are competing against, it was difficult to have a lot of expectations.

“I think they’re all going to have a great race experience,” he said.

“It’s difficult because we don’t know all the individuals who will be on the start line. Saturday is time-trial, it’s an opportunity for them to go out and do what they can do.

“It’s just them and the bike and the course with no outside influences. Once we get those results at the end of that day, we’re going to sit down and identify who some strong people are.

“It’s hard for us to judge because in the younger category, Dylan, Jens and Jonah are all very strong based on local standards, but we don’t know who they’re coming up against.

“Even though they’re all capable athletes, it’ll be a new experience going to this event. It’s the first time for them to attend any international cycling event, so it’ll be an interesting experience.”

On the absence of female representation in the team, Dunne pointed to a number of factors.

“We’re not drawing the younger women into the sport that we’re seeing in other sporting activities,” the BBA president said.

“One of our athletes who could have been part of the team, Skye Ferguson, is starting university in Canada.

“Schedules and things like that rule out people. It’s the same for Jackson Langley, he’s already started university, so scheduling of this event doesn’t always fit everyone’s life.

Wright and Drea attended a training camp in Belgium last month to prepare for their races in Belize.

“Jacob is moving up with the guy who won the juvenile categories last year in both time trial and road race,” Dunne said.

“There’s a known rivalry already, but I think that Jacob seems super strong. There’s another rider from Barbados who was at the same programme with Jacob in Belgium.

“He’s seen him in races this year, but it’s very difficult to predict because the time-trial is just what they can do. Usually, if they’ve done that, then that’s very satisfying for us.

“If someone who’s super strong shows up and does the race, there’s nothing you can do about that in a time-trial.

“In the road race, which is a much more dynamic event, it’s much more tactical and it requires everybody to be alert to who’s in the field, what they’re doing at each particular moment.”