Teenage sensation Jean-Nicolas Bertrand made an emphatic impression on the annual IBC Front Street Cycle Races yesterday with a rare double in the one-hour criterium and the sprint (Senior King of Speed).

For the 18-year-old, the twin spotlight was a fabulous comeback after the disappointment of 2002.

"It's great. I was out with illness last year and to be able to come back and just pick up feels great. I'm really pleased," he declared, shortly after winning a sprint finish ahead of Karl Outerbridge and Jason Krupp respectively in the criterium.

Given his sprinting prowess, Bertrand was delighted to find himself with an advantage over the other six in the lead pack as they headed onto Front Street for the final dash.

"My strength is by far my sprint so I was happy to stand a chance at the end. There were some attacks off the front before and I tried to be part of a couple but had no success so I am glad it went in my favour."

The criterium - the day's showpiece event - was a battle of guile and stamina which saw a determined lead pack not allowing any one person to break away as Jamie Perdro learnt to his detriment. He made a move 20 minutes into the race but was ruthlessly hauled in and overtaken by Bertrand and company and eventually fell well behind.

Again around 35 minutes, another break was afoot. This time it was the trio of Bertrand, Outerbridge and Kent Richardson. They too were reeled in by the likes of Andrew Davis, Garth Thompson and Krupp after about ten minutes and all then decided to conserve their remaining energy for a last drive to the finish.

Despite his distress at being pipped by a few metres, Outerbridge said it was good to overcome personal adversity to compete yesterday.

"On Wednesday I had a serious bike accident and I thought I had broken my shoulder. Yesterday (Saturday) I was thinking about not even doing the race because I was hurting so bad. So I am still pretty pleased with what I did. It's one place up from last year when I was third," said the 35-year-old, showing bruises down his left arm and leg.

"To finish behind Jean, who is one of the Island's top sprinters, is still great. I saw my speed through the finish and it was between 62-65 kph. That's pretty good."

Krupp, who won the Category Three men's title, was all smiles about his performance, noting it was the best he could have done.

"I rode a fairly aggressive race and that helped in the end. I would have preferred to have gotten away with about two or three laps to go and I tried that but I got swallowed up.

"Once it came down to a sprint I really didn't expect to beat Jean or Karl so I am happy with third."

The 32-year-old said conditions were a bit windy which made it important "to keep the pace up on the tailwind section" of the city circuit.

At 41, Melanie Claude showed she is still the class act among the women, taking the top spot from Julia Hawley and Karen Smith respectively.

Claude termed conditions "pretty good" although there was a bit of a headwind.

"The key was to ride smartly. I was disappointed I couldn't stay with the front pack. We certainly tried but, for the beginning of the season, that hill (Burnaby Street) took its toll. I think for now, based on the time frame, I'm right on target," she said.

Meanwhile, young Khamari Greaves also celebrated a double with victories in the Junior King of Speed (sprint) and the Boys' 15-16 criterium (45 minutes) while Vic Ball took the veterans' criterium (45 minutes) from Peter Dunne.