The Bermuda Bicycle Association 2022 road race season kicked off in bright sunshine with the VT Construction organized race covering a seven-mile loop through Smiths and Hamilton Parishes. Click Here to see Pictures of VT Construction Road Race April 24th 2022
The new three race categories started with the Open category, covering 6 laps (42 miles), followed by the Citizen category, and then the Women’s category, both covering 4 laps (28 miles).
After completing the first lap together, the Women’s race split with VT Constructions Ashley Cooper, Maddie Durkin and Charlotte Millington developing a lead, chased hard by Bicycle Works Jennifer Lightbourne and Bermuda Junior Cycling’s Annabelle Miller. The women of VT Construction worked together to stretch the lead across the remaining laps, with Charlotte Millington taking the win, crossing the finish line at the top of St. Mark’s Road in a time of 1:25:21.199, with Maddie Durkin second clocking 1:25:21.675 and Ashley Cooper completing the podium with a time of 1:25:21.758.
The Citizen race saw a larger group, containing both youth and experienced riders, stay in contention until into the final mile, with the more experienced Ricky Smith of Winners Edge winning the uphill sprint for the line clocking 1:27:29.180, edging out the two youngsters, Jake Smith of BRCC clocked 1:27:30.395, and Jackson Langley, who rounded out the top three with a time of 1:27:37.845.
The Open race saw a steady start with the majority of the field staying together through the first few laps before Winners Edge Tracey Wright injected some pace into proceedings. This eventually sparked a split in the field with Tommy Marshal, Steve Millington, Cameron Morris, Chris Nusum and Grant Goudge gaining a gap on the chasing pack.
VT Construction’s Steve Millington made the decisive move going over St. Mark’s Road as the lead group started the final lap. He stretched his lead whilst the others looked for each other to take responsibility for the chase. Millington completed the final lap alone with a time of 1:52:38.260, winning by a just under a minute whilst his team mate, Cameron Morris, was able to save his legs during the last lap and take second in the sprint finish clocking 1:53:37.125, despite some technical difficulties, with Tommy Marshal of Winners Edge finished in third with a time of 1:53:38.712.
