Amateur Tour of Spain in Real Madrid, and subsequently withdrew from the fourth, after a puncture on day three left him unable to rejoin the leaders.

Hubbard, who went to Spain with a seven-member French team, described the event to his father Ken as "very, very hard with no time trial, no mountains, very flat and fast''. His strength is in mountain climbs.

The four-day event began last Wednesday and finished on Saturday with many of the participants having recently completed in the Barcelona Olympics.

Most of the riders were either top-notch amateurs or semi professionals.

Hubbard, still a month short of his 19th birthday, was the youngest of the riders, the next youngest being 23 years old.

The first stage, a 150km race, ended with a group sprint and the Bermudian was 65th out of 100.

The next day, a 190km event, there was another group sprint at the end and Hubbard was this time 70th out of 100. The average speed for both races was 28mph.

Hubbard's problems began in the third stage when he got a puncture at 100km into the 150km race.

And despite changing his wheel in record time he never saw the pack again and the sports director for his team pulled him out of the race.

He didn't race at all on the fourth day, with the best finish for his team being a 35th placing in one of the stages.

The race was won by a Colombian from the Postobon amateur team who competed in the Olympic road race and finished in the top five.

Hubbard, a category two rider, could be moving on from Club 88 next season and joining either Monaco or Nice Sprinters Club, with the intention of spending one more year as an amateur rider for a category one club before possibly joining a professional club.

"If he continues to make the kind of progress he has been making there should be a possibility to turn pro the following year,'' his father explained yesterday.

The youngster, who has been referred to as `The Fox' and described as `strong as a dragon' by the French newspapers, was most impressed with the organisation of the recent event in Spain, even though it was just an amateur event.

He told how the bicycles were washed, adjusted and polished for the riders every day and how each rider was messaged every day after each race. They were fed well and transported everywhere by car and all they had to do was ride.

Hubbard is now fluent in French and conducts his interviews in French.

ELLIOTT HUBBARD -- The young Bermudian has high hopes of turning professional in 1994.