Four Bermuda teenagers had their first taste of overseas racing and delivered performances full of promise.

Dominique Mayho, Tre-shun Correia, Marquise Cann and Mark Godfrey travelled to McMinnville, Tennessee over the weekend to compete in the Highland Rim Cycling Classic, a two-day, three-race event for all ages and categories of racers.

Also participating was Bermudian Geri Mewett who lives in nearby Knoxville and has been providing coaching to the Bermuda Bicycle Association's (BBA) junior training squad for the last two years.

The teens were accompanied by veteran cyclist/triathlete Kent Richardson and BBA president Peter Dunne.

In the road race on Saturday, Godfrey and Cann challenged the Junior 15/16 category over 22.5 miles. Godfrey came second and Cann eighth.

Mayho and Correia raced 55 miles in the Junior 17/18, including a critical climb and 2.5 mile descent where speeds reached 50 miles per hour.

Mayho had been part of an early split in the group with two other very experienced riders. In the sprint finish he was third across the line and Correia fought hard after the ascent to hold off the chase to finish alone and claim third.

The race schedule then called for an afternoon time trial of 2.5 miles up the mountain.

With an average gradient of eight percent, this was to be a challenge the Bermuda boys had never faced in their relatively short cycling careers.

With the youngest competitors starting earliest, the race organisers were only able to start the juniors through the 15/16 age group before an apocalyptic storm rolled in, with lightning flashing and torrential rain which immediately caused culverts to overflow.

But Godfrey and Cann performed exceptionally well with the former taking first position and Cann consolidating his position with an eighth place finish.

All other categories were cancelled for the time trial.

Rain was again a factor in Sunday's criterium in downtown McMinnville but did not impede the schedule. With one start for the 15/16 and 17/18 juniors, the technical course was made even more challenging with constant rain.

As the race developed, Mayho was in the front group but missed a break by three others, leaving him in the chase group.

Cann had crashed in the early laps and was forced to spend the rest of the race chasing the pack.

Correia and Godfrey had been split from the chase group but Correia made a huge effort for almost half of the race to get the pair back to Mayho's group.

He slid out in the most technical part of the course leaving Godfrey to continue the chase on his own.

In one of the best solo efforts of the weekend, Godfrey reconnected with Mayho's group with just a handful of laps left in the 30 minute race.

Coming into the final section, several of the group slid out on the wet tarmac, giving Mayho a third place finish and Godfrey third in his category.

In Mewett's Pro, 1,2 category race, he and his team-mate took control of the race in the final two laps and finished with in the top two spots.

Dunne and Richardson said they impressed by the effort and results of the Bermuda squad on courses and against competition previously unseen.

Richardson said: "Wow, these guys have come along so far in the last few months and are showing great confidence in their skills and fitness. I'm very impressed."

Training continues for the squad as they continue to work towards the Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships in Aruba on August 7 and 8.