Continued from Page 15far for him to go — just a short hop. It is far better for him to prepare at his home base in France with his team and when we get there it will just be a matter for him to get out on the course once.”

As for riding by himself while other countries will have teams, Hopkins said: “Actually he will be following in the footsteps of Elliot Hubbard and Chris Hedges in that they were both alone when competing in (top international) road races. Tyler, like Elliot, always has the knack of being in the right place at the right time (during a race). He knows that making the right move at the right time is so important. Tyler knows that he will have to be so alert, particularly when the break comes. There are pros and cons of riding by yourself. The fact is that he is from a small country and an individual rider and could possibly go unnoticed.”

Hopkins did admit that Butterfield might not be able to go under the radar. “By having that great finish in Plouay he will now be known — other people will know that he is capable of riding at the highest level. It will be like a big chess game.”

One thing will be certain and that is the Worlds will be hugely supported in Spain.

“In Spain they are fanatical about cycling — they have had some great champions and the Tour de Spain is going on right now. It is going to be a great experience for him.”

And for anyone who thinks that the life Butterfield has been leading in France has been romantic, then think again said Hopkins.

“It is not the glamorous lifestyle by any means. It is very tough and demanding — in fact it is quite a mundane lifestyle — you eat, sleep, train and race — that’s it.”

The first time amateur riders started to take part in the World Championships was in 1921 at Copenhaguen, Denmark.

At the last World Championships, held at Hamilton, Canada, over 173.6 kilometres, the victory was achieved by the Uzbek rider Sergey Lagutin, the silver medal went to the Belgian Joahn Van Summeren and the bronze was won by the Dutchman Tomas Dekker.

In 1921 the Swede rider Gun Skold became the first amateur champion followed by the Danish rider Wil Nielsen and the British Davey.

From that moment on the Amateur Championships were held at Liverpool, Zurich, Par|0xed|s, Tur|0xed|n until 1938 when the last Amateur World Championships before the war were held at Valkenburg.

Cycling was back in fashion at Zurich in 1946 until nowadays. In 1965 the World Championships were held at Lasarte, Spain, where the French rider Jacques Botherel became champion after having covered a distance of 171.9 kilometres. The silver medal that year went to the Spanish rider José Manuel Lasa, brother of the brilliant professional rider Miguel Mar|0xed|a Lasa. The year before, the champion was the great Belgium rider Eddy Merckx.

In 1971, the Spanish rider José Luis Viejo achieved the bronze medal during the Worlds held at Mendrisio, Switzerland, over 168 kilometres. The gold went to the French rider Régis Ovino and the silver was won by Freddy Maertens, who later became a star in the professional field.

In 1973, during the World Championships held at Montjuic, over 162 kilometres, the Polish riders were the stronger ones and the gold and silver Medals being won by Rysz Szurkowski and Stan Szozda.

During the edition held in 1997 at San Sebastián, the Cantabria-born rider, Oscar Freire, managed to achieve the silver after the Norwegian rider Kurt-Asle Arvesen.

In 2002, at Zolder, Francisco González occupied the second position on the podium after Francesco Chicchi and followed by David Loosli who was third.