Bermuda’s cycling campaign at the Commonwealth Games begins this morning under a cloud with the news that lone female competitor Caitlin Conyers has withdrawn from the time-trial because of an unspecified illness.

Conyers was due to set off on the 28.8-kilometre women’s course at West Park, Wolverhampton, at about 6am, but the Bermuda Bicycle Association, while announcing the start of cycling at the Games in its weekly newsletter last night, revealed that “unfortunately, Caitlin Conyers has withdrawn from the TT as she is under the weather”.

The Bermuda Olympic Association did not respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, Conyers remains listed as a starter on the official Commonwealth Games website.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding Conyers, Kaden Hopkins, Conor White and Nicholas Narraway are raring to go, having watched their fellow Bermudians in the 17-man squad take to the triathlon circuit, swimming pool, squash courts and athletics track.

While it is an individual event, with the three male cyclists going up against one another, Hopkins reflected on the chance for Bermuda to punch well above their weight in the sport.

“These Games are a real landmark moment for Bermuda cycling,” he said. It’s funny because we’ve heard people say that the big teams have three riders among the field and little Bermuda has that.

“It’s brilliant to have a bunch of our riders performing at such a high level and to have such depth at an event like this is pretty crazy, really.

“We’re all definitely coming into the Games on a high because none of us feel out of place.”

White, the national time-trial champion, may present Bermuda’s best chance of upsetting the elite in his favoured discipline.

“It’s nice to finally get going and race,” he said. “Preparation has been pretty good, I’ve had a solid block of training and so I’m excited to see how it goes.

“The time-trial is definitely my main focus and while it’s hard to have any proper expectations, I’m just going to go out there and ride as hard as I can.

“It’s definitely a big step and we know it is going to be a very strong field. While it is a little nerve-racking, I’m also excited to see how we stack up against these guys at this level.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Narraway, who is expecting a difficult challenge on what looks to be an undulating and technical course.

“It’s a mixture of excitement and nerves,” said Narraway, who is also intrigued to see the level of competition ahead of the road race on Sunday. “However, in any big race I think some nerves can be a good thing.

“It’s going to be an amazing experience for us all and it will be a good indication to see the competition properly and indication of the level we’re at.

“It’s probably the most technical time-trial course any of us have ever competed on, so it is going to be an interesting one. However, we’re here to compete and see how well we can perform.”

Hopkins leads Bermuda out as the eighteenth of the 57 riders on the 37km men’s course at 8.18am, with Narraway following four minutes later. White will be off at 10.12am.

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