He?s the son of two of Bermuda?s most celebrated athletes, but at only 23 and with a professional cycling contract already secured, the early signs are that Tyler Butterfield has it in him to eclipse even his parents? incredible feats.

Butterfield was not even born when his dad Jim finished a jaw-dropping seventh in the 1981 Hawaii Ironman ? one of the most demanding physical challenges on earth ? and probably only has vague memories of his mother Debbie winning the May 24 Marathon Derby on numerous occasions in the 1980s.

But through growing up in a family where athletic endeavour and sporting excellence were part and parcel of daily life, it was not surprising when a 17-year-old Butterfield graduated from Saltus and travelled abroad to pursue a career in sport.

Despite his tender years, he has achieved a significant amount so far.

Already a veteran of a Commonwealth and Olympic Games, Butterfield won the bronze medal at the 2002 World Junior Triathlon Championships and, after jettisoning triathlon in favour of cycling soon after, he has subsequently impressed everybody with his performances for top amateur French team Vendee-U.

As a result, he was signed last month by a young American pro outfit, TIA-CREFF ? a team managed by a former team-mate of Lance Armstrong and with the potential to compete in the Tour De France within a few years.

His current French coach Phillip Manduit has no doubts whatsoever of Butterfield?s potential, suggesting a couple of months ago that he was within a year or two of becoming a truly world-class cyclist.

?With a couple more years experience behind him there is no reason why Tyler cannot be one of the best in the world,? he said.

?Physically he is incredibly strong and on the mental side he is improving a lot as well. In a short space of time it has been clear he has what it takes.?

Back at home now for a month?s holiday after a long, demanding season of racing in Europe, a modest Butterfield was keen to make light of the hype surrounding him, saying pointedly that he has never been one to talk himself up or set lofty goals.

?You have athletes who aim for the stars and if they fall short they are inevitably disappointed ? I?m not one of those,? he said.

?I?m happy with what I?ve achieved so far and I know what a fantastic opportunity signing for the new team is. But I?ve always tried to keep things in perspective and to aim for things which are realistic and obtainable.

?I like to keep my expectations low and then surprise myself when I do better than I anticipated. That?s the way I?ve been doing it my whole life, and while for some people it might seem strange, that?s just who I am.

?So when people make a big deal out of me and my potential, I try not to take too much notice of it. I?ve heard people talk about my physical capability and say that I have a ?big engine?. But I?ve done all the physical tests and my numbers are not fantastically high.

?Now I know that I can get better. I haven?t yet put myself through the training that riders at the top level have to, so it will be interesting to see how things work out once I?ve been through that.?

ike his friend Kris Hedges before him, Butterfield?s decision to concentrate on cycling after enjoying considerable success as a triathlete was not an easy one.

After placing third at the world juniors, it might have been easy to assume that he was destined for great things in the sport.

Yet Butterfield himself was not convinced, and neither was he particularly enamoured with the lifestyle.

?On the run and on the bike, I knew I was capable of competing with the best ? but it was the swim that was letting me down,? he said.

?It got incredibly frustrating after a while because I was doing all this work on my swimming technique and I just wasn?t getting any faster. I think I got a little too carried away with technique at the time ? but it?s so important if you want to succeed in triathlon that you are in the front pack the whole way and I always found that I had a little too much work to do after the swim.

?Another thing I found difficult was the life. I went down to Australia after I left Saltus and I was lucky enough to train with the triathletes based at the Australian Institute of Sport.

?I had a great time there and although the coaches were interested in seeing me get better, it was not the be all and end all if I didn?t because I wasn?t Australian.

?When we travelled to races, I would travel with them, but I was basically by myself, competing for myself, which after a while became tough and I began to feel a little isolated and lonely.

?So a combination of my weakness in swimming and the fact that I started not to enjoy the lifestyle anymore kind of persuaded me to start looking at other options.

?What I like about cycling is that there is a support structure there which I did not have in triathlon. You?re in a team of people doing the same thing as you, everything from transport to food is taken care of and you get paid a team salary.

?The camaraderie something I love as well ? you form some very close friendships on any team because although you compete against each other in training and things like that, when it comes to races it is all about doing well as a team.

?There really is no better feeling than when the team does very well, and for me that?s what has made the difference.?

erhaps naturally, Butterfield?s father has played a crucial role in his development.

Ever since he went to live in Australia ? the mecca of triathlon ? in his late teens, Jim has supported him ?both financially and emotionally? and the two have developed an even closer bond through the trials and tribulations of his athletic journey.

?None of what I?ve achieved so far would have been possible without my father,? Butterfield said.

?Obviously he was an inspiration for me from the start through what he achieved, but ever since I started competing, he has been there for me. There have been some rough patches where I doubted myself or where things were not going as well as I?d hoped and my dad has been a good one to talk to in those situations.

?Neither my father nor my mother have ever pushed me, though. What I?ve done so far I?ve done because I wanted to do it, but they have supported me the whole way and everything I?ve done up to now I have to say thank you to them for.?

It is no secret that Butterfield was born into a life of relative wealth and privilege, and as he admits, his father?s willingness to back him financially while he travelled the world competing was a privilege that many other athletes never enjoy.

The potential downside to this, however, boils down to a question of desire.

As some of his former coaches and mentors will talk about privately, whether or not Butterfield makes it will depend not on talent ? for he has that in abundance ? but rather on whether he wants it enough.

Can a young man, who never has, and probably never will have to worry about money or a secure future really possess the inner-fight and motivation of the thousands out there who have no choice but to succeed?

Butterfield is the first to admit he has had problems with self-motivation in the past, particularly since switching to cycling full-time. He finds himself training enthusiastically for two months, only to feel his interest waning for a period and having to fight to get out of bed in the morning.

?My problem up to now has been consistency,? he said.

?I?ve got no problem training hard. I train as hard as anybody when I?m in the groove and hard work does not worry or intimidate me. I just haven?t been able to keep it up over long periods ? but I?m pretty sure that will change after I join the new team in January.?

onsistency aside, there appears to be a lot of truth in the claim that he trains as hard, if not harder than most when the mood takes him.

As his Australian girlfriend of five years, Nikki Egyed, said, ?Tyler is an all or nothing sort of person?.

There are a couple of prime examples.

A mere eight weeks before the Athens Olympics in 2004 and when most athletes were tapering their training programmes, he took what in most people?s eyes would have been the crazy decision to run a marathon ? with the promise of ?a few days off afterwards? as justification. As a matter of interest, he ran the 26.2 miles in two hours and 40 minutes ? though he said offhandedly and without a trace of arrogance that he was ?pretty much just cruising?.

And just recently, finding himself bored and alone in a small town in the French Alps, Butterfield decided early one morning to embark on a 240-kilometre round trip ? crossing the border into neighbouring Switzerland and returning just before midnight after ten hours on the bike.

?Once I?ve forced myself out there, I love training hard ? I love the feeling of it,? Butterfield said.

?Riding for ten straight hours, even with the odd coffee break thrown in, is not the ideal training to be perfectly honest, but I was up in the mountains and it was beautiful and I just kept going. I didn?t plan to go for that long really, it just kind of happened.

?It was one of those days where I felt alive on the bike and totally liberated. I like doing things which are a little bit different because I enjoy the fact that it?s something that a normal person wouldn?t do!?