Several new features have been added to this year?s CD&P Bermuda Grand Prix which kicks off with tomorrow evening?s popular Hamilton Criterium on Front Street.

In addition to the 150 professional and amateur cyclist who have converged on Bermuda from around the globe to help boost the annual event ? celebrating its 12th year ? Gibbs Hill Lighthouse will play host to the new XL Capital Gibbs Hill Challenge, this year?s various stage leaders will don a locally designed leader?s jersey while the event?s title sponsor will be handing out free hats and t-shirts and holding a prize draw.

?The racing itself is a fantastic spectacle but the prize draw adds a little extra incentive,? CD& P marketing director Ross Webber told those gathered at a Press conference yesterday.

?Conyers Dill and Pearman takes great pride in its philanthropic and sponsorship contributions to the Island and this Grand Prix is a shining example of a well run, high quality international sporting showpiece.?

Then of course there?s the racing ? four days of high calibre action in pursuit of a total of $15,000 in prize earnings to be exact.

?This year we have over 110 elite riders participating along with another 60 amateurs competing in junior and adult categories,? explained Bermuda Bicycle Association (BBA) executive Danielle Bezant.

?More than 150 individuals from overseas are here for the event which remains the largest professional sporting event in Bermuda.?

In all a total of 28 teams are here to compete for top honours, among them last year?s Hamilton and Dockyard Criterium champion Harm Jansen, Josh Carter, Mark Pozniak along with defending women?s elite champion Lauren Franges.

?Harm last year rode on his own without any support but this year he has come back armed and ready with a very strong crew. And obviously he is going to be a force,? race director Peter Dunne told The Royal Gazette. Bermudian Tyler Butterfield, last year?s shock winner among the men?s elite, won?t be back to defend his crown this week.

Title sponsors CD&P earlier this year extended their relationship with BBA.

?This has been a most rewarding relationship for the local cycling community as well as our spectators who will again be treated to professional racing at various locations around the Island,? Bezant added.

?This is obviously the largest event on the BBA?s calendar which requires a lot of commitment on the part of our membership, all of their families and friends.?

CD&P have committed themselves to the BBA to the tune of $100,000 to be forked out in instalments of $25,000 annually over the next four years, Webber revealed.

Bezant also thanked others who have helped the event grow over the years either by providing accommodation, various support services and sponsorship.

?All of this has helped to make this event a reality and we would like to thank all the Government ministries and departments that have given a helping hand to the BBA,? she added.

And what better way to kick off this year?s event than with tomorrow evening?s intense men?s and women?s Hamilton Criterium.

?It?s one of the most exciting stages of the event and as fast as it gets in Bermuda. There?s a lot of money and cash prizes at stake,? Dunne revealed.

?So it?s extremely exciting not only watching the pro men and women race but we also have our local juniors racing as well which is a bit of a showcase for them. And the distance is really dictated by how fast they go.?

Tomorrow?s men?s race will consists of 45 minutes plus a lap while the women?s is 35 minutes.

?Criteriums are generally timed races and distances are really dictated by how fast they go,? Dunne added.

Racing then continues with Friday?s XL Capital Gibbs Hill Challenge which will see competitors combat the gruelling incline.

?This will be a time trial format so riders will go off at 30 second intervals racing from the bottom of Lighthouse Hill Road basically at the junction of Middle Road right to the base of the Lighthouse,? Dunne said.

?Gibbs Hill Lighthouse is certainly a great image for Bermuda and something that most tourists and Bermudians recognise is indicative of Bermuda.

?And we think the idea of these guys and girls having to bust a gut to get up their in the fastest time as possible on their own steam is really going to be a new aspect of racing for the Bermuda Grand Prix.?

Another change this year is the doing away with the traditional yellow leader?s jersey.

?We thought that yellow was not indicative of Bermuda and so we have gone with a pink and blue and purple colour,? Dunne revealed.

?And I think people like Harm Jansen, who wore the jersey for two days last year, will look forward to slipping one of these babies on.?

Racing then continues on Saturday in the East End with the Southside Road Race at Clearwater Beach.

?This is the longest leg of our stage race and the guys are pretty familiar with the course,? Dunne noted.

The 2005 CD& P Bermuda Grand Prix then concludes at the opposite end of the Island on Sunday with the Cheerios Dockyard Criterium, one of several stages sponsored by various other local sponsors.

?We ran this race last year for the first time and thought it was an exciting part and some of these guys who have been there before probably left a little skin on the road,? Dunne added.

?The roads in Dockyard are very narrow but that doesn?t seem to deter these guys from going as fast as possible around corners.?

CD&P marketing director Webber, insisted: ?The $15,000 prize money is not a reflection of the amount of money that actually goes into sponsoring the event and certainly no reflection of the amount of money which CD&P put into event annually.

?However, in the cycling world $15,000 is a pretty good purse.?