Bermuda concluded the Caribbean Cycling Championships with a haul of seven medals, including four golds.

The team got off to a sensational start on the opening day on Saturday when Gabriella Arnold, Conor White and Nicholas Narraway won gold medals in the time-trial.

White led home a Bermuda clean sweep in the men’s event, with Kaden Hopkins claiming silver and Nicholas Narraway the bronze as all three men finished more than two minutes clear of their nearest rival. Narraway also won gold as the best under-23 rider with the fourth member of the team, Liam Flannery, forced to retire with a puncture.

With an average speed of nearly 52 kilometres per hour, White’s finishing time of 27min 36.30sec gave him just five seconds to spare over compatriot Hopkins with Narraway a further 15 seconds back, and he was delighted to pick up the win.

“It means a lot and we came here to win,” White said to Canal10.

“It means so much for all three of us to make it on to the podium and the same for the women. It means everything.”

Despite having to give best to his team-mate, Hopkins was also thrilled with his performance.

“It was a good feeling and I was on a great day out there,” Hopkins said.

“I felt strong the whole way through and never felt any weakness. I felt like I paced it well all the way to the finish and was able to push right to the line so I’m really happy and to have all three of us on the podium is huge.

“Conor and I started riding at the same time. Since then we’ve fed off each other and we’ve grown together, so to be at the top of Caribbean cycling and moving up into world cycling, it’s a proud moment and you really can’t ask for more.”

Arnold also produced the goods at the right time with her time of 32:56.64 giving her a five-second margin of victory over the more experienced Mary Erato of Sint-Maarten. Liana de Medeiros, of Bermuda, finished eighth overall and second in the under-23 division.

Peter Dunne, president of the Bermuda Bicycle Association, was thrilled to see his riders dominate the event

“I haven’t seen that sweep before and it’s a really wonderful and rare occurrence,” Dunne said.

“It was spectacular. Nic was third overall but was also the fastest under-23 athlete, so he is the under-23 Caribbean champion, which is a huge accomplishment.

“Gabby hasn’t done a time-trial officially for ten years and last year when she went to these championships she didn’t do the time-trial and she went ‘oh, I should do this’.

“I’m like ‘you’ve always hated time-trials but if you want to do it, let’s make it happen’, and she did it and she won. It’s been really fantastic to see that.”

Despite the huge success it was not all plain sailing as a couple of riders were forced to endure mechanical problems

“Liana was second in the under-23s and that’s a really big bump up,” Dunne said.

She was unlucky as her shifting mechanism failed so she was stuck in one gear for the entire race. It was a complete nightmare but she finished and she worked really hard and it was a real testament to her.

“Liam Flannery flatted on the course and couldn’t finish, which he was very distraught over as anybody would be because he was super-prepared for this and could easily have been on the podium in the under-23 category. While everybody was celebrating, he was finding it tough.”

The BBA has a hugely successful development system and Dunne is delighted that the squad in Guadeloupe have all come through the ranks.

“Every one of these six athletes have come through our junior development programme and then progressed on to other levels, so it’s just a fantastic outcome for them and us.

“Watching the level of performance of these guys is fantastic. We’re in Guadeloupe, which is part of France and they are cycling crazy. We’ve had interviews in French, people are just jumping all over you and it’s an amazing experience to come to a race in a country like this.

“I was driving the car behind Gabby and later behind Kaden and people are out lining the street, grandmas in their nightdresses applauding and watching, little children all applauding and every age in between. To have a result like this in a cycling culture like Guadeloupe is even more exciting for us.”

There was further joy for Narraway in the road race on Sunday as he claimed his second gold as the best under-23 rider in the men’s road race after finishing sixth overall in a time of 3:38.00.

White agonisingly missed out on a second medal of the championships being pipped to bronze by Red Walters, of Grenada, in the sprint finish. Flannery and Hopkins were forced to pull out mid-race.

Medeiros picked up Bermuda’s final medal on a sparkling weekend, claiming bronze in the under-23 category of the women’s road race. She finished ninth overall in 2:12:47, three places ahead of compatriot Arnold, who finished in 2:13:49.