Dominique Mayho left the island yesterday with four talented young riders to compete in the Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont, New England, this weekend.

Fresh off his third straight win in the Presidents Cup last weekend, Mayho is braced for four days of intense competition in the Pro 1 category, starting with tomorrow’s time-trial.

Mayho will be in action in the circuit race on Saturday, a road race on Sunday before finishing with a criterium on Monday.

Also competing will be Bermuda’s Kaden Hopkins, Matthew Oliveira in the junior category, Alyssa Rowse in the women’s category three and four and Deshi Smith in men’s category three.

Peter Dunne, the Bermuda Bicycle Association president, said it was especially important for the younger riders to experience overseas racing.

“For most of these riders it’s just about getting some experience racing overseas in a new group and seeing how they handle the commutative strain of four days of racing,” said Dunne, who will accompany the cyclists.

“They will be racing in their team kit rather than Bermuda’s uniform so they will appear in the results showing Bicycle Works (Rowse), Winners Edge (Hopkins and Oliveira) Madison Digicel (Smith) and Jonge Rikkers Vollezele (Mayho).”

Mayho, who has finished his first full season with Jonge Rikkers Vollezele in Belgium after spending six weeks with them the previous year, is uncertain if he will be returning to the team for the next campaign.

He said the experience has benefited his riding tremendously and is now looking forward to some keen competition in Vermont.

“I’m looking forward to the sprint stages, I’m a little too heavy to be climbing up the mountain with those skinny guys, but for the sprint stages I’ll be good,” he said.

“The season [in Belgium] is pretty much over, it finishes in the middle of September so I’m not going back this year.

“As for next year, I’m not a hundred per cent sure, I’m trying to get it sorted out. It’s been great, I’ve been able to race at a high level at least twice a week and it’s made me a lot stronger.”

Mayho dominated the President’s Cup, a challenging 65-mile event which is the longest local road race.

“I knew I had put the work in, it was just a matter of making sure I didn’t do anything stupid,” Mayho said.

Rowse took the women’s title when she edged out Karen Smith.

“Matthew is doing well and was just coming off being sick, so I was really surprised how well he was racing,” Mayho said.

“He and Kaden are two of our top juniors who impress me every time I ride with them.

“It’s cool to watch how good they’re getting. There will be some of the top US juniors [in Vermont] so it’s going to be a difficult race for them but I think they can manage.”