In his first serious foray into stage-racing, Bermuda?s Tyler Butterfield left a great impression on a field featuring much more seasoned riders.

Finishing strongly in Sunday?s two-part final stage of the Tour de la Guadeloupe, the amateur cyclist grabbed 21st place overall in the general classification (GC) out of 84 finishers who completed the ten-day event in the French-speaking Caribbean island. More than 140 competitors had started the Tour on August 5.

The 22-year-old placed 15th in the 100 kilometres road race and 13th in the 17 kilometre time trial on Sunday to outshine scores of other riders including several professionals. In the road race, he again held his own in an 18-man breakaway to record the same time (two hours, 13.31 minutes) as stage winner Freddy Hamlet of France.

Overall, Butterfield was 22 minutes and 24 seconds behind GC conqueror and defending champion Flober Pena of Colombia. In addition, he was seventh out of 33 young riders and 15th out of 31 sprinters.

To cap off a successful meet, his club ? top French amateur unit Vendee U ? were second out of 17 teams.

?To be 21st on GC ? that?s pretty awesome,? declared Butterfield?s close associate and former national coach Greg Hopkins, reacting to the result.

?It?s hard to put into perspective what it?s like to ride a ten-day stage race. It?s racing day after day after day. For him, not only to complete that, but to do as well as he did is just another indication of Tyler?s potential and ability.

?It?s very impressive. It?s not only the fact that he finished as well as he did but it was obvious throughout the stages that he was very aggressive and getting involved in lots of breakaways and attempted breakaways which was probably, to some extent, team tactics but, by the same token, it takes a lot of confidence and ability to even get yourself into that position.

?I know he is going to be very satisfied with his performances.?

This has come in the former triathlete?s first season in top-flight amateur cycling which makes his progress even more remarkable.

?Tyler?s name has been around for years but he is still very young. For him to make the move from triathlon to cycling and to do it in the absolute toughest place in the world to do it in ? in Europe ? and to ride the way he is, it?s gratifying.

?It?s potential, I think, that?s long been recognised. I think the last ten days will have done a huge amount for his confidence,? continued Hopkins, noting this outcome says a lot about how far Butterfield could possibly go.

?He is racing among the top amateurs over there and the fields he rides in are predominantly amateur. But anybody who knows cycling will tell you the difference between a top amateur and a professional rider is not huge.?

Hinting broadly that ambitions of turning pro may not be beyond this phenomenal athletic talent, the cycling official stressed it would depend squarely on Butterfield.

?The Tour de France might be a difficult prospect only because of the limited size of the field and the quality of the teams but I don?t think it?s out of the picture for him to ride for a decent professional team but he has really, really got to want it.

?It?s such a tough, hard lifestyle. It?s all about riding if you want to make the next step to that level. It?s a huge commitment and you?ve got to really want that and if he does, in my very humble opinion, I think he has the ability to do it.?

While the life of a top-class cyclist is rough, it does have its humorous interludes as Butterfield realised in Guadeloupe when, during a breakaway, he heard spectators chanting ?Papillon? as he and four others rode by.

?He kept hearing people shout ?Papillon, Papillon? which is French for butterfly and he was looking around to see who is this Papillon guy because he thought he knew all the guys riding with him,? recounted Hopkins.

?It wasn?t until after the race that he realised it was him they meant. They had mistaken his name for ?Butterfly? instead of Butterfield.?