Dominique Mayho, Zoenique Williams, Dylan Hill and Alyssa Rowse were crowned the 2016 Bermuda Bicycle Association's Criterium Champions in racing that took place in Hamilton, with each of them winning with strong performances.
Hill took the Junior Male title ahead of Tyler Smith who was subsequently disqualified for using gearing outside of the regulations. Alex Pilgrim, who had been with the two leaders until late in the race, was promoted to second and Ben Edwards out-sprinted Ziani Burgesson and Conor White to earn the final spot on the podium.
Rowse was the sole entry in the Junior Female race but was not content to sit in the Open Female category race. Rowse went hard from the start line and eventually lured Williams to join her and the pair then quickly distanced themselves from the chasers. Rowse’s race was six laps less than the Open Female event so she crossed the line and left Williams to work for the remaining laps to stay ahead of the chasers.
Leading the chase was Rose-Anna Hoey who put in an impressive ride. As Williams is a teammate of Karen Smith and Gabby Arnold who were with Hoey, neither of the Winners Edge ladies were expected to contribute to the chase. This left Hoey to pursue Williams for the entire race. At times she was able to make a dent in the lead but in the end it can to nothing as Smith and Arnold sprinted for second and third ahead of an exhausted Hoey.
Going into the Open Male race DominiqueMayho was the clear favourite but with Bermudian Geri Mewett on-island for the annual BBA Junior Cycling Camp there was always going to be some question of whether Mewett would be fit enough to beat Mayho.
And in a last minute surprise, former pro cyclist Kris Hedges took the start line, mainly due to peer pressure. Hedges, a four time time trial champion of the Caribbean and former rider for the US team of Snow Valley, was never going to be a contender but his presence gave an added air of excitement for the spectators.
From the gun Mayho pushed the pace, trying to establish and early break that would force the rest of the field to chase. Eventually the pairing of Mayho and Anthony Bartley stuck with a chase by Mewett and Mark Hatherley.
As the laps ticked by the leaders extended their lead while the chasers stuck to their effort. Neither gaining enough to contend for the win but not relinquishing their lead over the field, Mewett got the better of Hatherley for third while a late surge by Mayho allowed him to cruise in for the win ahead of Bartley.
Earlier in the day races were held for younger riders with Manning Smith winning the Junior B event and Caleb Ingham winning in Junior A.
