Hopkins & Oliveira Compete in Championship Road Race
IslandStats.com
Matthew Oliveira and Kaden Hopkins took to the 2017 UCI Road Race World Cycling Championships Junior Men’s Road Race in Norway.
The 133.8 kilometer race began with a 40K stretch from Rong into the city of Bergen for the 190 competitors. The ups and downs of the speed of the peloton caused several early crashes, Oliveira finished 87th out of 130 finishers but did not escape unscathed, at one point going over the handlebars in a crash of a few riders. Oliveira covered the Race distance clocking a time of 3:18.48, he finished 8 minutes behind winner Julius Johansen from Denmark.
Unfortunately Hopkins did not finish the race, Hopkins was caught up, causing no damage to the rider but leaving his machine needing adjustment. Though quickly serviced by the race mechanics he was left to chase alone until he was joined by other riders suffering a similar fate. Eventually the group was pulled from the race as the main peloton continued to speed away.
"Finishing an event like this is a great achievement”, said BBA President Peter Dunne who accompanied the team along with mechanic Dave Colins. “Our riders need to get much more exposure to riding at this high level in order to learn to race in these very tight conditions but what they achieved today, as well as in the Time Trial on Tuesday, is something they should be very happy with. The crashes are a part of these events of this size and sometimes it is just bad luck that a rider is caught up in them. The guys rode very well today and the experience will certainly help them achieve even more in future events.”
