Dutchman Harm Jansen narrowly prevailed in a exhilarating, hard fought sprint finish with Australian Cameron Hughes to win the Hamilton Criterium, the first stage of the prestigious CD&P Grand Prix on Front Street last night.

The dynamic duo broke away after 20 minutes from the main pack of riders, which included local competitors Kris Hedges, Geri Mewett and Tyler Butterfield, and such was their terrific pace on a night without rain and only a light cross wind, they never looked like getting caught.

After working together to maintain their advantage over the dying stages, it was Harm, reputedly the better sprinter, who powered clear over the last few metres to take the glory at the end of a gruelling 45 minutes on the course.

“I really enjoyed the race, even if there were a lot of spots on the course which were in darkness or uphill,” Harm said afterwards.

“Cameron and I have been friends for years since we trained together in Australia and it was natural for us to work together once we had broken away from the main pack.

“But Cameron knew that I was faster in the sprint so once we got down onto Front Street pretty even for the finishing straight, I always felt confident that I could pull away.”

Second-placed Hughes said afterwards that he was grateful for Jansen's “excellent team work” and also paid tribute to the Dutchman's considerable finishing power.

“He just got away from me at the end there, but overall I'm very happy with the race,” he said.

“Both of us put our cards down on the table pretty early in the race and we tried to form a partnership in order to maintain that advantage and I think Harm and I make a great team. Obviously going in to the final lap we just went at it and tried to go flat out until the very finish.”

The Bermudian contingent also performed very creditably on the night.

Leading the trio was Olympic triathlete Tyler Butterfield who finished an impressive 11th - despite the fact that he was at pains to talk down his chances in the days before the race.

Following Butterfield to the finish line was 23 year-old Kris Hedges, who only began training again recently after a nasty tumble earlier this summer whilst training with his VC Pontivy team in France, resulting in a broken collarbone and severe road rash.

“I was little disappointed that I could not have put on a little bit more of a show at home but I am competing against US riders who train for this sprint Criterium format week in week out so it was always going to be a challenge,” he said.

Former Bermudian Olympic swimmer Mewett finished five places back from Hedges in 26th.

The Grand Prix event, the premier cycling competition to be held on local soil now moves on to St.George's today for the XL Capital Super Sprint between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Tomorrow, the competitors will be fighting it out in St.David's in the Aspen Southside Road Race between 8 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. while the final event of the four days will be the Cheerios Dockyard Criterium which gets underway at noon and concludes at 5 p.m.