Eight of the Island’s top junior riders are set to compete at this weekend’s Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships in the Dominican Republic.Representing Bermuda are Daniel Oatley, Nathaniel Hartwig, Gabby Arnold, Vashon Cann, Mark Godfrey, Deshi Smith, Daelan Richardson and Nico Barclay.Hartwig is competing in the boys 15-16 time trial and road race along with Oatley who set a new age group record in the weekend’s time trial event at Shelly Bay.Cann and Godfrey are riding in the boys 17-18 time trial and road race while Arnold is competing in the girls time trial and road race.Arnold won the bronze medal in the same two events last year in Puerto Rico and will be looking to do even better this time around.Smith is the boys 17-18 road race while Richardson and Barclay are taking part in the boys 15-16 road race.Barclay is a last minute replacement for the injured Justin Ferreira who hurt his foot during a triathlon and is still recovering from surgery.Also ruled out through injury is top girls cyclist Molly Pilgrim who won gold medals in the time trial and road race at last year’s championships, leaving Arnold to carry the Island’s hopes in the female events.Oately, Barclay and Hartwig are all making their first appearance at the championships.Saturday’s time trial in Santo Domingo will be held on a six and a half mile course while the courses for Sunday’s road races will vary with each age group.The senior boys will race on a 48½ mile course, junior boys on a 37 mile course and the girls over 26 miles.Accompanying the team are Bermuda Bicycle Association president Peter Dunne and Nigel Godfrey who will serve as team manager.Dunne is confident Bermuda’s cyclists will put their best foot forward. But he admits that their task won’t be easy against the region’s elite riders.“The riders being produced in the Caribbean right are now are extremely capable,” he told The Royal Gazette. “The depth of talent there is really significant so I always encourage the guys and girls when they approach this competition to give 100 percent effort and be comfortable knowing that you’ve done your best.”Dunne has high expectations for Smith, Cann and Godfrey in the boys’ senior and junior road race this year. Godfrey won a silver medal at this event in the junior boys road race two years ago in Aruba.“In the boys category we have a deeper team than in the past and the benefit of that is that we can be more influential in the outcome,” Dunne said. “Last year Dominique Mayho won the older boys category. He had team-mates back in the main bunch to help control the tempo and I think we are in a better position this year.“Daniel and Nathaniel are very strong and will be much more able to control the tempo of the race. The older guys, based on the way they raced in Pennsylvania in July, are much more of a cohesive unit than they were last year. That means we can put somboeby in the breakaway and then have two guys that can actively control what happens in the main peloton. Or, ideally, we can put two people in the breakaway knowing that they are fit enough to be there.”The team depart for the Dominican Republic on Thursday.