Junior Trevaughn Smith left senior riders questioning their fitness when he won the 15-16 boys' category and dominated the opening of the senior event in race three of Bermuda Bicycle Association's mountain bike series.

After a mass start at Hog Bay Park on Sunday, Smith surged ahead of the likes of Peter Matcham and Brian Steinhoff, who consistently top the senior standings.

Despite crashing and being caught on lap three, Smith surged again, dusting the senior men and winning his four lap race in 18:24.40.

Adam Petty took second in 21:17.30 and Kyle Smith finished third in 21:21.01.

Meanwhile, the senior men laboured for eight laps over a course on which they spent most of their time climbing, or recovering from a climb.

In the absence of Tyler Butterfield, and happy that Trevaughn was riding as a junior, Matcham pulled off his first victory of the series.

He finished in 41:06.3, holding off newcomer, New Zealander Geoff Wing, who finished second in a time of 42:46.48, and Rolf Runker who rounded out the top three in 43:23.26.

Trevaughn's brother, Coyatito Smith, took line honours in the 13-14 boys' category, pipping Khamari Phipps by two seconds to finish in 22:50.10. Alex Holmes took third in 26:30.86.

Tim Fox continued to show that he may be a force to be reckoned with in the future by taking the 11-12 boys' group, having just moved up from the under 10s. Aaron Fenn was the runner-up.

In the downhill event that preceded the cross country, Brian Steinhoff proved his superior bike handling skills to great effect, taking top honours in 1:01.46.

Matcham was three seconds off the pace in 1:04.30, while Andre Bassett completed the drop in 1:10.37 to take third.

Race four of the nine-race series will be on January 14 at 9.00 a.m. at Ferry Point Park.