The show will go on, vowed organisers of the Conyers, Dill and Pearman cycling Grand Prix yesterday.

Despite the effects of Hurricane Gert, which left cyclists from several US teams unable to fly in yesterday and part of the Grand Prix course under water, the four-day cycling extravaganza will start tomorrow evening, as planned.

Several teams, including top US teams Saturn and Team Shaklee, beat the storm by arriving on Monday.

But after all yesterday's flights to the Island were cancelled, those riders intending to fly in -- including Bermuda's leading cyclist Elliot Hubbard -- were forced to reschedule their journeys for today or tomorrow.

Greg Hopkins, president of Bermuda Bicycle Association, said none of the teams who had signed up for the event had dropped out because of the disruption caused by the hurricane.

Some are now being forced to arrive as late as lunchtime tomorrow, just hours before the event gets underway with the CDP Classic on Front Street at 7.30 p.m., but Hopkins said that would be nothing new to top cyclists.

"Arriving on the day of the race is nothing unusual for these guys,'' said Hopkins. "Last year, George Hincapie arrived on the Thursday afternoon flight and did well in the CDP Classic that evening.'' Hincapie, a US Postal Service team-mate of winner Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France, is one of the biggest names to be racing this week.

Some of the riders who arrived on Monday were making light of the weather yesterday.

Hopkins explained: "I saw some of the guys with the British team Linda McCartney, when I was out for a walk in the morning. One said to me, `this is just like April in England'. Later, they were out training on Middle Road.'' Hubbard, a professional with New Jersey-based team Navigators, had thought he would be forced to arrive in Bermuda at 4.00 p.m. on Thursday, damaging the chances of him repeating his victory in the Classic last year in front of a delighted home crowd.

But Hopkins heard better news from him yesterday. "Elliot says he will now to able to re-route through Boston and get here on Wednesday -- assuming flights are running again,'' said Hopkins.

The Classic is separate from the Grand Prix proper, a three-stage event, with the first two stages scheduled for Southside, St. David's, on Friday and Saturday, with the 90-minute final stage in Hamilton on Sunday.

But much of the east-end course, which is on the lowest-lying part of Bermuda, has been flooded by the heavy seas whipped up by Gert.

Hopkins said: "We have heard that the course has been washed out and there is some debris lying around.

"We can walk around the course on the day and make changes if necessary.

Whatever happens, we will be racing.

"We've had a lot of calls from riders, asking if the event is still on and we've told them it definitely is. Some of them have had difficulty making changes to their flights.'' One top rider, Saturn's Levi Leipheimer, has pulled out of the Grand Prix. He has decided to race in Europe instead this weekend as he continues his build-up for the world championships.