Bermuda’s junior cyclists closed out their participation in the UCI Road World Championships with Matthew Oliveira and Kaden Hopkins racing in the Junior Men’s Road Race this morning in Bergen, Norway.

The 133.8-kilometre race began with a 40km stretch from Rong into Bergen for the 190 competitors. The ups and downs of the speed of the peloton caused several early crashes, one of which Hopkins was caught up in, causing no damage to the rider but leaving his machine needing adjustment. Though quickly serviced by the race mechanics he was left to chase alone until he was joined by other riders suffering a similar fate. Eventually the group was pulled from the race as the main peloton continued to speed away.

Oliveira completed the demanding race in 88th place out of 130 finishers but did not escape unscathed, at one point going over the handlebars in a crash of a few riders.

“Finishing an event like this is a great achievement”, said BBA president Peter Dunne, who accompanied the team along with mechanic Dave Colins. “Our riders need to get much more exposure to riding at this high level in order to learn to race in these very tight conditions but what they achieved today, as well as in the time trial on Tuesday, is something they should be very happy with. The crashes are a part of these events of this size and sometimes it is just bad luck that a rider is caught up in them. The guys rode very well today and the experience will certainly help them achieve even more in future events.”