inadvertently set off another.

The Island cyclist, who came under fire for failing to show up for Sunday's Bank of Bermuda Team Triathlon, was yesterday criticised for speculating on what he would have done had he been there.

On Monday, Looby issued a public apology after standing up his two team-mates, runner Sheldon Thompson and swimmer Craig Ferguson, in the middle of the event. But in expressing his disappointment at not getting a chance to race, Looby thought he would have been able to complete the 15-mile Hamilton course in "36 or 37 minutes,'' almost certainly giving his team victory.

That was too much for Greg Hopkins, a former Bermuda cycling kingpin and currently one of the Island's top triathletes.

"Unfortunate and in bad taste,'' a livid Hopkins said of Looby's remarks in yesterday's Royal Gazette .

"To say what he did shows disrespect to the performance of those who were there and tried their hardest.'' Seeing times produced Sunday by the likes of Jeff Payne, who turned in the fastest ride of 40:42, Dana Henry, Neil de Ste Croix and Kris Hedges, Looby ventured that he "could've given (the team) three minutes'' over the competition.

Looby based the estimate on his own fitness level and the fact he had been competing with his California-based team throughout the summer on courses similar to Sunday's.

Hopkins disagreed. He noted that Looby only beat Payne by 1:40 over a 27-mile time trial the previous week and his unfamiliarity with the triathlon course -- this year was the first time it had been used -- did not lend itself to comparison.

But Hopkins, who cycled for the tenth-place team on Sunday, saved most of his criticism for the fact Looby ventured an opinion when he didn't even participate (Looby said Monday he damaged his bicycle on the morning of the race and couldn't ride it).

"What he's saying is, had he been there, his team would've won. Well, you can't predict what you would've done if you weren't there,'' Hopkins said.

"That's like me saying I would've won the National (Triathlon) Championship (in June) if I hadn't got a flat tyre. You just don't go around saying those things.

"He shouldn't have said anything at all ... and I know lot of people who share that view.'' Greg Hopkins