The Bermuda Bicycle Association has good reason to feel positive about the future of cycling locally and internationally based on the performances of many of its riders this season.

Peter Dunne, the long-time BBA president, is justifiably optimistic about what is ahead for the sport on the island: “The racing that our athletes have recently been a part of and the upcoming competitions are a demonstration of the commitment our riders have to their development as elite cyclists.

“The commitment that they have each made gives our federation great confidence that 2020 and the coming years are full of potential and we anticipate that the stories of what our riders are doing will continue to motivate all our junior riders to reach the same level.”

Supporting this confidence, three of the island’s top junior cyclists, Nicholas Narraway, Alexander Miller and Liam Flannery were all in action last weekend racing in the highly competitive 17-18 category in the Tour of the Southern Highlands Stage Race in Northern Virginia.

Narraway was representing the Miller School of Albemarle while Miller and Flannery, competing internationally for the first time, travelled from Bermuda.

In the first stage, a challenging individual time-trial, Narraway placed 20th in the 73-rider field, with Miller, 33rd and Flannery 46th.

Later that day, on a fast, tight and technical downtown stage two criterium, the Bermudian riders raced for 30 minutes under street lighting for their first time and Narraway was again the top local finisher in a creditable eleventh place, Miller 24th and Flannery 47th.

Stage three, a 32-mile circuit race, saw Narraway place 23rd and in doing so moved up in the general classification to a creditable twelfth place with Miller 31st and Flannery 49th.

The final stage, a 75 mile road race on Sunday, proved to be Narraway and Millers best day in a hard-fought 3hr 15min race, with some significant climbs. Both riders were in contention at the head of the field with Narraway placing fourth with Miller 22nd and Flannery 42nd.

In the final general classification, Narraway finished twelfth, Miller 21st and Flannery 43.