unknown this week when he travels to Spain for his first world junior cycling championships.

He will meet national coach Greg Hopkins in Boston before the pair fly on to San Sebastian, where Hedges will spend three days adjusting to the conditions and getting to know the courses before competing against the sport's top youngsters in both time trial and road race events.

Hedges, 17, admits it is unusual to enter both disciplines, but says it was thought that with only one time trial event in Bermuda, it would benefit his cycling education. Last month Hedges, who has been training and racing in the US since the end of July, was named King of the Mountain for a powerful climb in Killington, one of the toughest stage races in the US.

But he will be up against even stronger opposition in Spain -- a prospect that doesn't faze him. He is realistic but confident of putting in good performances.

Speaking from Boston, where he attends school, he told The Royal Gazette : "Obviously I'm a bit nervous as this competition will be like nothing I've experienced. Some of the riders at Killington were at this level, but in Spain all of them will be. But I'm confident that I can reach my full potential.'' In the 24.6-kilometre time trial, on October 7, that will mean staying ahead of the clock. In the 121 km road race, that will mean staying with the main pack. Anything else would be a bonus.

"It's tough just to do that,'' he says. "Though you never know what can happen in a road race. It's very tactical. You need to conserve energy and just wait for the right opportunity. "But this is primarily a learning experience. I'm at the bottom of the age range for juniors, so this is really a confidence builder for next year.'' Hedges' school commitments have cut his training schedule but he has come to an arrangement that allows him to train in the afternoon.

However, as far as his coach is concerned, most of the physical preparation is done; it is now a case of just keeping things ticking over and remaining healthy.

Hopkins has kept in touch with Hedges by e-mail and phone every other day and apart from a brief scare about a minor calf injury there have been no problems.

However, he has been stressing techniques such as visualisation to get him mentally prepared and relaxed for the challenges ahead.

Not that he appears to need much in that regard. Hopkins says: "He has a cool, calm, composed approach. He's not overawed and has a lot of confidence in his own ability. In fact, there are a lot of similarities between him and Elliot Hubbard.''