Bermuda's cyclists are a force to be reckoned with and will set about underlining this belief at the forthcoming Caribbean Championships, national coach Greg Hopkins has declared.

The annual event among 16 nations is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union and is considered the next step to the bigger Pan-American Games.

All eyes will be on the Island's number one rider Kris Hedges who will be out to defend his time trial gold when the event takes place in Curacao between October 12 and 13.

Over the two days riders will tackle an individual time trial of 30 kilometres and a 125 kilometre road race.

After a terrific performance at the just concluded CD&P Grand Prix, where he won the time trial to head the standings after two stages, Hedges will be hopeful he can hang on to his time trial title.

The US-based Snow Valley rider will be joined by Wayne Scott, Geri Mewett, Kent Richardson and Karl Outerbridge in the Caribbean.

The Island will also be represented in female competition by Melanie Claude and Julia Hawley. Claude finished fourth in the CD&P Grand Prix while Hawley made the difficult decision not to compete in Sunday's final stage after suffering severe cramping on Saturday. She did, however, put in a strong performance in last Thursday's Front Street Grand Prix and will be looking to build on that in the Caribbean.

"We have a strong team going to Curacao," said Hopkins. "On the men's side we have Kris, Geri and Wayne with Kent going primarily for the time trial, although he will also be doing the road race.

"Karl, meanwhile, has really earned the right this year to go away and represent Bermuda."

Hopkins believes his team have the ability to make a name for themselves.

"Success is all relative," he said. "We went to the Commonwealth Games and we were not under the illusion that we were going to win medals. When you go to the highest levels of competition, Commonwealth, Olympic and Pan-American Games you have to be realistic about your goals.

"But there are a lot of competitions, such as the B World Championships where Kris came fourth in China, Caribbean Championships where he won a gold medal and the CAC Games, where we are a legitimate force.

"At the CAC Games in Uruguay our riders were right there in contention, the men and women, Melanie winning a bronze medal in the time trial. So we have become a legitimate force in a lot of the competitions that we are eligible for."

With many based in the US it is rare for all the national team riders to be in one place at one time and Hopkins took the opportunity to get them together for a team meeting over the weekend.

"There is an amazing understanding between them," said the coach. "There are no egos involved. If we say we are going to look to ride for this rider there is never any question of 'why are we riding for him?' or 'why are we doing this or that?'.

"There is a very, very strong camaraderie there between all of them. They all encourage each other."

Once the Caribbean Championships are out of the way the focus will shift to the Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) which take place in El Salvador in November, although Hopkins said the details on that event were still being worked on.