Beast of the East.

That is the nickname given to the Killington Road Race in Vermont and a posse of Islanders made the trek for the event, which featured many of the top riders from the US.

Teenager Tyler Butterfield and Kris Hedges competed in the pro one and two event, while Julia Hawley took part in the women's equivalent.

National coach Greg Hopkins, Jason Krupp, Jonathan Herring and Steve Millington featured in the category three event for the Winners Edge Team, while Paul Madeiros took part in the veterans 40-plus category.

Finally, Joanne Sweeney raced in the women's category four event and Matthew Herring in the junior class.

Hopkins said Butterfield and Hedges finished well on the Saturday in the 100-mile road race and figured strongly in the criterium on Sunday.

"Over half the field was pulled out. If the leader of the race laps riders, the lapped riders are pulled out,'' he explained.

"Kris was with the leaders with about 10 laps to go and he got pulled, but Tyler stayed in there all the way through the race. He has never ridden at this level before and had only been over in the States for a week, so that was an excellent performance.'' In the final stage -- a 130 mile section in cold and foggy conditions -- Hedges was with the leaders until 60 miles.

"At the feed zone he got separated from the pack and got into a smaller splinter group. In the end the course, conditions and speed of the race proved a bit too much for him and he pulled out before the finish,'' Hopkins said, pointing out that that was no disgrace as the rider had just the week before crashed heavily and had to be taken to hospital with a back injury.

Butterfield did not ride the final stage after a meeting with Hopkins.

"That was as the result of discussions I as national coach and he had,'' the coach said. "We were up until midnight after the second day talking about it and decided he wasn't going to race on the Monday because of the distance, the difficulty of the course and the fact he had had two really good days on the first two days. It was in my opinion, and he agreed, that it was more than he needed to try do.'' Julia Hawley had a strong ride in the 75-mile road race on Saturday and was in the criterium with the leaders for more than half the race before being pulled.

In the final stage on Monday Hawley finished just behind the leaders.

"When they came into the final five kilometres she was right there with the leaders including riders who are going to the Olympics,'' Hopkins said.

Steve Millington had the best performance out of Bermuda's entrants in the category three race.

He finished every race with the main pack and going into the last day had been just one minute 28 seconds behind the leader.

Jonathan Herring finished the three days, Jason Krupp didn't compete after the initial day following an event organisers' error and Hopkins pulled out after two stages due to what he described as a lack of conditioning.

Joanne Sweeney finished the first day in the women's category four, but was not allowed to take part in the second.

"She wasn't disappointed,'' said Hopkins. "It was her first time ever racing away.'' Paul Madeiros had the "ride of the weekend'' according to the coach.

"He had been away for a month and had very little training and at one point was not even going to ride. He finished the first day which was extremely tough but was outside the time limit,'' he said.

Matthew Herring in the junior race finished day one and started day two only to be pulled out.

Heads up!: Manchester United's Ronny Johnsen (right) beats Bradford's Benito Carbone in aerial battle at Old Trafford yesterday.

Future star: Bermuda's Tyler Butterfield (right) made his mark during the gruelling Killington event, keeping pace with the leaders throughout the 100-mile road race.