Kaden Hopkins triumphed in the Bermuda Bicycle Association’s first official event of the year after winning the VT Construction Individual Time-Trial today.

Hopkins, the defending champion and course record holder, had another strong performance in the 10.8-mile race, clocking a time of 23min 9sec with an average speed of 28mph.

Conor White placed second in 24:45 with Alexander Miller coming third as the top junior in 25.15.

Juniors Nic Narraway and Liam Flannery rounded out the top five in 25:22 and 25:30 respectively.

The riders started at Paget Post Office on Middle Road, travelling east to Barnes Corner and turning left onto South Road then continuing on the challenging hilly route finishing opposite the Bermuda College entrance.

With the normal season having been put on hold because of the Covid-19 pandemic, riders and officials were excited to finally get the season under way albeit not normal in many senses of the word, with strict rules of participation in place.

Riders were required to register online through the racedayworld website, which gave each rider an official start time of one minute between riders and limiting contact with the race officials who were required to wear face masks and observe social distances recommendations.

Riders were also required to start with on foot on the ground and not held by an official which would be normal practice.

Despite the restrictions a promising 36 riders participated in hot, humid conditions.

Masters rider Louise Wells was the fastest woman in a time of 28:05 an average speed of 23.1mph.

Open female Jamie-Lee Wright was second in 29:38 and Junior female Liana Medeiros third in 31:51.

In the men’s masters category and making a welcome return to competitive cycling was former top Bermuda rider Kris Hedges who put in an impressive display with a time of 27:13. Geoff Smith came second in 27.25 and Neil Lupsic third 28.07.

Other category winners were Jasmin Hasselkuss in the junior girls’ 13-14 in a time of 34.14 and Moses Johnson in the junior boys’ 15-16 in 29:22. Zac Muniz was first in the junior boys’ 11-12 in 48:21.