Peter Dunne has high expectations for the island’s squad that will compete at this month’s Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships in St Lucia.

The Bermuda Bicycle Association president said the squad, which consists of Matthew Oliveira, Kaden Hopkins, Dylan Hill and Alyssa Rowse, is arguably the strongest Bermuda has sent to the regional championships.

“We had a lot of candidates and it’s always difficult to choose a team. But we feel these four are very well prepared to compete at this level,” Dunne said.

“Over the years it’s become much more competitive for this event and we have specifically chosen a team based on our perception of their ability to be competitive at this level.

“We chose a team based on their ability to be competitive as opposed to just participatory and we think we as have as strong a team as we’ve had to go to this competition.”

Hopkins, Hill and Oliveira all competed at last year’s championships in Dominican Republic. Oliveira won silver medals in the individual time-trial and road race, capping a highly successful debut.

The trio warmed up for the upcoming championships with a solid showing at last weekend’s National Road Race Championships in Southside.

“All three were there last year and Matthew won silver and based on this past weekend’s results for the National Championships Kaden, Dylan and Matthew were the top three [junior male division],” Dunne said.

“They rode together for the whole race and were competitive right to the end.

“I think that’s a good thing for us because they are all the same age, so that puts them in the same category, and they should be able to work together as a team instead of three individuals.

“I don’t think we would have a problem having any one of the three of them as our effective team leader. We have a deep team in terms of ability.”

Rowse, who captured a maiden junior women’s national road race title last weekend, is making her Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships debut this year.

“Alyssa has been the strongest junior female this year and I think based on the performances she’s had in Bermuda she should be able to compete at the very front of the girls’ competition,” Dunne said.

Oliveira and Hopkins are both competing in the boys 15-16 time-trial and will be joined by Hill in the road race. Rowse is competing in both the women’s time-trial and road race alone.

The two-day championships will be held on July 30 and 31.