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By Neto Baptiste
Cyclists will compete for one of the sport’s top prizes on Sunday when the Antigua and Barbuda Cycling Federation (ABCF) stages it’s Inet Individual Time Trial after the event was postponed from it’s original date of 28 June due to rain.
President of the cycling federation, St Clair Williams, said the body took into consideration the fact that cyclists would have focused their preparation around the original date in June.
“We had to postpone it due to inclement weather and different factors so now it has been rescheduled for the 20th [July] starting at 8:00am and we’re going back to the same location on Factory Road. Hopefully the cyclists, because they all want to get it over and done with, because when you train you want to make sure that you hit that peak at the right time for the right races. One of the major races like the National Championships, you want to make sure you’re up there in terms of your performance so we’re trying as much as possible to get it as close to the original time,” he said.
The time trial should have been the opening stage of the National Cycling Championships with the second stage being the Top Ranking Individual Road Race. Although the road race was successfully staged and captured by veteran Jyme Bridges Jr on 29 June, the Individual Time Trial was postponed by almost a month.
Williams said all the aspects of the event remains the same including the route and start time.
“It is going to be from the Paynters area for the full distance to the sign in Willikies and back and that’s for the elite, males, females, the masters, the juniors and the sports class. For the 11-14 cadets, they will take it from that start/finish line and their turnaround spot will be at Mount Joy. A lot of people want to make sure that they [stamp] their mark to make sure they can say they are the champions for the next 12 months … All of the cyclists are still there and I see them out there training,” he said.
Heavy and consistent rains, which made the roads dangerous for both cyclists and motorists alike, forced the cycling federation to postpone the Individual Time Trial on 28 June.
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