It may be early in the cycling season but Steve Millington has already stamped his authority on the local race scene after a calculated and controlled ride in the first road event of the year at Southside, St. David's on Sunday morning.

Millington, hoping to be among the team that will represent Bermuda at this summer's Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, out-sprinted fellow national squad rider and national mountain bike champion MacInnis Looby for victory in the 40-mile event.

The large field of almost 60 riders were greeted with strong winds in the season-opener, but as soon as the signal was given to start it was clear some of the top riders were not about to show any respect for the conditions.

Looby set a hard early pace into a stiff headwind that strung the riders out in a long line. With only half a lap completed, the crosswind that ripped across the road from the South Shore was already taking its toll as the field split into groups with the main contenders for overall honours controlling the race.

With riders attacking off the front in the first two of 12 laps for the top riders, it was clear that the weather conditions would dictate the outcome of the race with the order of the day being safety in numbers as efforts to break away were quickly reeled in.

After a torrid pace was set in the tailwind on lap three, a gap opened up with Looby, Martin Pettit and Millington at the fore, sending a signal to the rest of the riders who clearly sensed the danger and fought desperately to catch up.

As the leaders made the turn at the top of the only hill on the course to face the headwind again, only Greg Hopkins, Melanie Claude and Julia Hawley had managed to make contact, and with such a strong lead group the writing was already on the wall as they worked together to extend their lead.

With Hopkins dropping off the pace, the five leaders worked tirelessly together as the rest of the field split into three main groups with Whayman Butterfield trying to organise a chase. But the strength of the leaders and the effects of the strong winds combined to thwart any comeback and it became clear that the winner would come from the front group.

After almost two hours of racing and with one lap to go, Looby and Millington broke away and it looked to be a two-horse race, but as they jockeyed for position in what was clearly coming down to a sprint finish the never-say-die Claude and Hawley with the help of Pettit, clawed their way back to the two leaders and as they turned into the headwind for the final time the stage was set for a five-rider sprint.

With Millington and Looby the clear favourites, Hawley tried to break away but was quickly pulled back with the first serious attack coming from Pettit with about 300 metres remaining.

With Looby on his wheel, Pettit began to falter but with perfect timing Millington blasted off the front to take a clear victory in one hour 52 minutes 19 seconds with Looby holding onto second, one second behind, edging out Claude, with Hawley and Pettit both credited with the same time and all the riders separated by only four seconds.

In the Category Three race over the same distance, Gino Crofton, Whayman Butterfield and Andy Kain were in an equally close battle as Crofton took honours in a close sprint that saw the three finish within a second of each other. Kain and Butterfield were second and third respectively.

Top triathlete Karen Smith was a clear winner in the women's Category Three division over 11 laps, and in the men's veterans' category, also over 11 laps, Vic Ball was dealt a rare defeat at the hands of Jeff Conyers after he sustained a puncture early in the race. Paulo Medeiros was second with Ball third. In the female vet category, newcomer Sue Edney was a clear winner as was Peter Dunne in the men's novice category.

A strong field of 23 juniors were on the start line with the following winners in their age groups: Kamari Greaves in the boys 15-16, Flora Duffy in the girls 15-16, James Adams in the boys 13-14, Caitlin Conyers 13-14 girls, Tim Fox 11-12 boys, Amy Fox 11-12 girls, Tyree Armstrong 10 and under boys and Claire Hawley 10 and under girls.

Full results

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