on the weekend.

The 18-year-old rider was expected to be in contention at Bermuda Bicycle Association's National Time Trial Championships in St. David's on Sunday, but nobody expected him to dominate the event in the way he did.

On a hilly, technical course, Hedges, who has been riding in the United States all year while attending Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, powered to victory over the 26.88 miles to record a time of one hour, six minutes and nine seconds -- an impressive average speed of 24.38 mph.

He finished a full minute and five seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Jason Krupp, who clocked 1.07.14 with Steve Sterritt following in third place in 1.07.53.

Both Krupp and Sterritt had returned to the Island on Tuesday after competing in the Small Countries World Championships in Cuba last week.

On a day when, for once, the wind at South Side dropped to a light breeze, Hedges left nobody in any doubt about this intentions as he quickly caught the riders who had set off ahead of him in the event. Each rider left at one minute intervals, racing against the clock.

But it soon became clear that Hedges was putting in a special performance as he caught and passed one rider after another. Only Sterritt appeared to be matching the youngster in the first three of six laps but even he began to feel the effects of his efforts, slipping to third while Krupp, looking in top form, powered to second place overall.

Although pleased with Hedges' performance, his coach Greg Hopkins was not surprised by the rider's performance.

"I have watched Kriss over the years work hard and diligently at his sport.

He has always kept everything in perspective and his dedication is now starting to pay off,'' said Hopkins.

"We saw it last year in the triathlon and since he started concentrating on cycling I believe he will go from strength to strength. He is a great asset to Bermuda. With Kris and the other junior riders we have coming through, the future looks very bright.'' Veterans in the field took the next three places with Mel Bennett (1.09.4) outgunning Richard Mason (1.10.13) and Hopkins (1.10.19) finishing in that order.

Despite her pregnancy, Melanie Claude was equally impressive with her win on Sunday. As the defending champion, she placed 17th overall in the field, recording a time of 1.17.8 which was almost five minutes ahead of second placed Heather Brand, whose time was 1.21.7.

In the junior 15-16 age group, Nuri Lathan took advantage of the absence of Tyler Butterfield (who was off the Island) and Jonathon Herring, who was competing in the National Swimming Championships, to easily win his category over Andy Simons and Chris Bennett.

Other winners were Brian Steinoff in the boy's 13-14 division on a 13.44 mile course and Matthew Herring in the 11-12 boys over 8.96 miles. Tim Fox was the winner in the Under-10s over 4.48 miles.

Next event is the National Road Race Championships at South Side this Sunday, starting at 9.00 a.m. Entry deadline is 5.00 p.m. tomorrow and entry forms are available at the Winner's Edge.

KRIS HEDGES -- finished more than a minute ahead of his nearest rival in Sunday's national time trial championships.