It appears that the decision by the T&T Cycling Federation (TTCF) not to send a team to contest the opening Team Sprint event at the UCI World Cup in Canada on Friday was the right call, said cycling icons Roger Gibbon and Gene Samuel, and Desmond Roberts, who is a cycling enthusiast and manager for Olympian Teniel Campbell.
The trio believes the team had no chance of competing with some of the riders they were set to face in Friday's event, though one cycling coach said the sprint team of Kwesi Brown, world record holder Nicholas Paul and Quincy Alexander, who came into the team following the exclusion of Njisane Phillip and Keron Bramble, was well equipped to garner valuable points among the teams they were scheduled to compete against.
Gibbon, arguable one of this country's best-ever cyclists, said he was disappointed with the recent developments in the sport which came at a time when there were so much hope and potential by the riders.
"I think our position now appears to be self-inflicted one as athletes are supposed to know the rules of the sport. I feel hurt that T&T has been dragged to that level. It ought not to have reached that level," Gibbon said.
Due to this, Gibbon said the country is without a team to compete in the team sprint since there are no replacements for Phillip and Bramble at the World Cup. This, according to Gibbon, means both Paul and Brown will be challenged to book individual Olympic spots on their own, in the keirin and match sprint events, respectively.
Samuel believes that Alexander is just not ready for the big stage, saying his start is way too slow.
"It is a blatant abuse of the federation's funds to send Alexander to the Canada World Cup. When he gets going he rides well but his standing start is way slower than every other rider. It is sad that Alexander is unable to produce the times that I used to make back in 1997.
"I think Paul has already qualified for the individual sprint because of the number of points he has accumulated but Brown will have to pick up points here and there, in his attempt to qualify for the Olympics," Samuel said.
Meanwhile, Roberts, who has been instrumental in Campbell's qualification for the Olympics, said the team's chance of advancing to the Olympics, is slim to none.
He said, "The duo cannot produce the times needed for the team to accumulate sufficient points to qualify."