Peter Dunne, the Bermuda Bicycle Association president, has hailed BermudAir for helping to ensure the island’s team arrived in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in time for the Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships.

The island will be represented by a four-rider contingent consisting of Cameron Morris and Thomas Quarterly, competing in the men’s 17 to 18 division and Charlotte Millington and Skye Ferguson in the women’s 15 to 18 competition.

However, the team almost came close to not making the event at all, before the island’s new airline came to the rescue.

“New airline BermudAir saved the day for Bermuda’s junior cyclists by making space available on the last flight out of Bermuda on Thursday morning [before Hurricane Lee],” Dunne said.

“Wednesday night’s quick response meant that the team was able to get to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, for the annual championships.

“We are extremely grateful to the entire team at BermudAir for helping us with this last-minute problem. Without them, our riders would not have been able to get to Santo Domingo in time to compete.”

Racing commences on Saturday with a ten-kilometre time-trial for the women and 10km for the men. The road race takes place a day later with the women competing over a 60km course for the women and 90km for the men.

“All of the athletes have spent the year committed to their development in sport, and this competition represents the pinnacle of their racing calendar,” added Dunne, who has travelled to the championships along with BBA official Wenda Roberts.

“The course is well suited to our riders, and we are sure they will have strong performances that reflect their growth as cyclists.”