WALTER ALIBEY
T&T's Junior cyclists Tyler Cole and Jabari Whiteman were scheduled to return home yesterday as Caribbean champions after both picked up key medals at the Caribbean Junior Road Cycling Championships in St Lucia at the weekend.
Cole, the only junior cyclist to have won a medal for T&T at the recently concluded two-day international cycling championship to mark the official opening of the Cycledrome at Balmain Couva last weekend, claim gold in the Road Time Trial for Junior cyclists at the Millennium Highway.
Whiteman, who achieved a miraculous feat by dipping below the five-minute time barrier at the Roger Smart Memorial Time Trial around the Queen's Park Savannah three weeks ago, also secured gold medal for the Juvenile Men's Road Race as well as bronze in the Juvenile Men's Time Trial. The achievements were even more special for Whiteman as it was his first outing at the championships.
Both headed a full-strength T&T team at the championship that included Enrique De Comarmond, Zion Pulido, Darrius Beckles, Ronnell Woods, Nathan Alexander and Sidney Joseph. The team left for St Lucia some three days after the championship at Couva, leaving both Cole and Whiteman with little time to refocus on their regional opponents. They will now be expected to change their focus again, ahead of the Pan American Junior Track Championhsip at the Cycledrome in Couva.
Yesterday racing secretary at the T&T Cycling Federation (TTCF) Gary Acosta said medals were expected from both Whiteman and Cole before they performances at the regional championship based on their performances in T&T over the past few months.
He noteds that although there may be the perception that the youngsters didn't perform as well as they were expected at the international meet here, the experience turned out to be more of a learning experience for them.
"They are both young cyclists at 15 and 16 and they competed against top international riders from around the world, so though we may not have seen the benefit from it then, we are not seeing how beneficial it was at the regional championship. I think we have a lot to look forward to at the Pan Am championship here" Acosta said.
Both cyclists, he said, are now focused on the Pan Am and are very confident of doing well, so I hope the public will go out and support them, Acosta added.