Bermudian cyclists Nic Narraway and Kaden Hopkins are pleased with their performances after producing three top-tens and one top-20 finish in the Pan American Road Championships in Uruguay.

Hopkins finished seventh in the time-trial and tenth in the road race, with Narraway making it into the top ten in the time-trial and finishing twentieth in an eventful race on the roads.

For Hopkins, there was a mixture of happiness and disappointment with his final effort as he prepares to return to Bermuda for a brief break.

“I was a little disappointed because I think a better result was possible but it was just a little bit hectic in the final and we only had two guys in the race,” he said.

“It’s hard to compete against the teams with six or seven guys when it comes to placement, so I’m also pretty happy with it. We rode as good a race as we could have given there were only two of us in there.”

Hopkins cut a noticeable figure on the race’s livestream with his aggressive riding and at one point made a huge effort to bridge across to the leading group.

“It started calm but there were points where it became super dynamic with tons of attacks and I don’t think we were ever not present in the breaks that had a chance of going somewhere,” he said.

“Our game plan today was that if Venezuela, Colombia or Uruguay, who were the strongest teams and probably wanted sprints, were in the leading group, we had to be there.

“I felt very good and in control even when I was making some big moves. I was definitely happy and Nic was also super strong so between us we had what it takes to cover everything.

“The sprint was chaotic and a lot of the South American countries are very aggressive in the sprints, so there were crashes and people swerving all over the place.”

With two top-ten finishes and finishing just seven seconds outside the medals in the time-trial, it is easy to wonder what might have been but Hopkins leaves Uruguay happy with his efforts.

WEEK

“I’m definitely satisfied,” he said. “I came here for more and would have liked to perform a bit better in the time-trial but it was very close.

“It wasn’t a bad performance but small things that affected the result. I was very happy with the sensations today and just wished that I could have ridden the final a little bit better. It was my first major goal for the season and probably my biggest goal so it was nice to come away with two decent results.”

In the world of professional cycling there is not too much time for rest but Hopkins will be take a week in Bermuda to recharge his batteries before getting back in the saddle.

I’ll be home for nine days to get a little break,“ Hopkins said. ”I haven’t been racing for very long but I’ve been building up since January to be in good shape for this event.

“I’ll get some rest before heading back for Guadeloupe for one race before going off to New York for a one-day UCI race. That’s a good race and a lot of good teams go there. I’m looking forward to it because it looks like a difficult course but quite punchy, so it will be a race for me to enjoy.”

Narraway was competing for the first time at elite level in the Pan American Championships after ageing out of the under-23s and he was delighted with his rides.

“There is nothing to complain about,” Narraway said. “We definitely both came here for more but the TT was really close and we had really good rides as did everybody in the top ten.

“Top 20 in the road race was a bit unexpected for me. It’s a super flat course that is not entirely suited for me and in my head I was coming into the race to support Kaden.

“I went for a move with a couple of kilometres to go and ended up at the front so I just thought I would try and hang on up there. It was hectic in the finish and I didn’t have the cleanest of finishes but twentieth is nothing to be upset about.

“I’ve raced elite races before but this was definitely a longer race and a bit harder when it was hard. There were a lot of cross winds and exciting sections that I really enjoyed and there was a lot of experience and confidence building.”

Narraway has a long trip back to Europe ahead of him and is next in action in Spain on Thursday.

“I get back to Spain on Tuesday and then race on Thursday and Saturday,” he said. “I’m racing pretty much every week from then until Nationals.”