After rewarding but punishing days in the saddle yesterday, two of Bermuda’s top cyclists have had the chance to reflect on their Sunday success.

Kaden Hopkins won the Grand Prix Jack Auto in Guadeloupe, while Nicholas Narraway finished second in the Ronda Ciclista al Maestrat in Spain and won the King of Mountains jersey.

Hopkins played the numbers game to his advantage during his race victory, benefiting from the decision of his team’s big rivals to lower the amount of riders competing.

“The thing with the races here is there is one team that has 12 guys at every race and they are all crazy strong,” Hopkins said.

“Normally my team only has three guys for each race, which means we are usually massively outnumbered, but finally that team did not bring 12 guys, so it was more of a level playing field.”

Hopkins, who won the green jersey at the Tour of Guadeloupe last year, formed part of a two-man breakaway before holding off his Colombian rival in a sprint finish.

“I followed a counter-attack from the Colombian and we got away,” Hopkins said.

“We immediately fell into a working relationship and there was a money prize for each lap and just to make sure there was cohesion I told him immediately that there was two of us and we would go lap to lap and share them.

“It was not easy but we were able to keep the gap easily. It turned into a sprint, which was slightly uphill and I had a lot of confidence as I think those are my best sprints. I led it out and waited for him to try and jump, but I backed myself in the sprint and I did one of my best sprints in a long time.”

While the race win and spot prizes proved lucrative for Hopkins, he is more concerned about the impact the win will have on his season and his career.

“They are so passionate about cycling here in Guadeloupe and people are willing to put lots of money into the races, so when you do well they can be lucrative,” he said/

“I came away with a bit of money but it’s not about that, I’m just trying to find my top shape. I’ve had only 15 race days for the year and normally by this point in Europe I’ve had 30 to 35, so it’s definitely been more difficult to maintain that rhythm you need in races.

“I’ve felt for most of the year that I’ve been underperforming based on what I thought I was going to do, but in the last couple of weeks things have started to click and I feel like I’m improving week by week.”

Narraway was delighted with his performance and is coming closer to that elusive first victory in Spain. With the mountains suiting his penchant for climbing, Narraway feels that the style of European racing suits him

“It definitely feels good to get a good result over here,” Narraway said.

“It’s very close to that win I’ve been searching for but nothing I can be upset about. It’s a good feeling to be so close.

“The terrain here is definitely good for me, the mountains classification is a clear sign of that. Hopefully there’s more to come on this sort of terrain.”

Narraway and Hopkins will be back in Bermuda in a couple of weeks to compete for the National Championships and the destination of the time-trial and road race crowns appears difficult to call when you throw Conor White into the mix.

Hopkins is predicting a tight race and is urging the Bermuda Bicycle Association to close the roads with the smallest margins of victory expected

“This Nationals will be the most exciting that we’ve had as we’re all in really good shape,” Hopkins said.

“I don’t know what the course is yet but I’m hoping the course will be more exciting than normal as it is usually boring.

“I’m going to have to speak to Peter [Dunne, BBA president] and ask him to make sure the roads are completely closed at least for the 40 minutes that the three of us are racing.

“Every year we end up running into traffic or a marshall will let a car on to the course at the wrong time. We’re all so equal now that if you get held up by a car for two to three seconds you can lose the race.”

Narraway knows he has improved this year and is promising to give White and Hopkins plenty to think about.

“It’s always a tight race, with the course not suiting me nearly as much but my chances are fair.

“I was close in the time-trial last year and I have improved this year but so has Conor and Kaden. We will just have to wait until the day to find out where it all stacks up.”