Steve Millington, Melanie Claude and Julia Hawley all showed excellent form in their final event before they leave for the World B Cycling Championships this week.

Millington maintained his dominance of local cycling by cruising to victory in Sunday's 40-mile category two road race at Southside, St. David's.

Claude and Hawley, competing against the men, placed fourth and fifth overall respectively and finished within a second of each other.

The three top riders will join MacInnis Looby, Kris Hedges and Florida-based Wayne Scott in representing Bermuda at the World Bs in China later this month.

The team will fly east on Friday with national coach Greg Hopkins and team manager Jennifer Hedges.

In Sunday's Bermuda Bicycle Association race, Claude and Hawley made an early break on the first lap, pulling away from the field in what appeared a foolhardy move in the windy conditions.

Vic Ball responded but soon fell off the pace. The women's tactics appeared to be paying off as they extended their lead.

Hopkins attacked on a hill and bridged the gap to the two leaders and was soon joined by Millington and Kent Richardson. The five worked tirelessly to extend their lead over the rest of the field.

With three of the 12 laps remaining, Millington made his move, taking Richardson with him, while Hopkins stayed with Claude and Hawley.

In what has become a familiar scenario this year, Millington sprinted to his sixth victory of the campaign, clocking one hour, 42 minutes, 28 seconds, two seconds ahead of Richardson.

Hopkins, Hawley and Claude stuck together until the final hill, when Hawley attacked. But in the sprint, Hawley was reeled in and Hopkins took third in 1:45:05, inches ahead of Claude in the same time, with Hawley one second behind them and more than six minutes ahead of the rest of the field.

Hopkins was delighted with the form of his international riders.

"Steve has been so dominant this season, it was no surprise that he rode so strongly, but I was especially pleased with Melanie and Julia," said the Bermuda coach.

"It was a planned move for them to try and get an early break, but I thought a couple of guys would go with them.

"After Vic (Ball) let them go and they had a good lead, I bridged and once Steve and Kent came, it was a matter of working a hard pace line. The girls did a great job, they really feel ready for China."

Sprinter Jean Nicholas Bertrand took honours in the category three, when as part of the pack chasing the leaders, he beat out Kevin Topple and Jay Simons in a close finish, all being timed at 1:51:44.

In the open women's field, Karen Adams proved strongest, as she easily won in 1:43:10 over 33 miles.

Vic Ball's dominance of the veterans' division continued as he finished in 1:33:54 over 33 miles. David Hill won the novice division and Matthew Herring rode impressively to win the 15-16 boys' event.