Kris Hedges again proved that he?s the best time triallst in the Caribbean on Saturday when he claimed his fourth Caribbean Championship gold medal in six years in the British Virgin Islands.

The feat was all the more remarkable because of the 25-year-old?s limited preparation time, having done far less training than for any of his previous three wins.

But a mixture of experience and adrenaline combined to give him a 13-second victory over nearest-rival Robert Bruman of the US Virgin Islands, with Hedges completing the gruelling course on the island of Tortola in 46 minutes and 41.2 seconds.

But yesterday?s 80-mile road race ended in disappointment for the Island?s top cyclist Tyler Butterfield, who skipped the time trial in order to be fresh for an assault on one of the three Pan-Am Games qualification berths.

Having been at the front of the race for most of the ten laps ? despite team-mates Hedges and Geri Mewett succumbing to leg cramps half way round and being unable to support him ? the soon-to-be professional cyclist lost out in a sprint to the finish line and missed the Pan-Am slot by one place.

?From a personal point of view I?m obviously delighted,? said Hedges last night.

?I didn?t do anywhere near as much training as I would have liked for the time trial and going into to it I wasn?t really sure what to expect. But I guess because I?ve done it before and because when the trial starts you stop thinking about what sort of shape your in and you just go for it, it worked out in the end.

?Luckily I managed to pull it off by 13 seconds, which was a little tighter than usual, but I?ll take it.

?Tyler on the other hand was feeling pretty frustrated after the road race. He went out there to win, and while we tried to support him as best we could, when Geri and I cramped up he was left to do it pretty much by himself which was a tough assignment.?