by Carlena Knight
President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cycling Association (ABCA) St Claire Williams has outrightly dismissed the notion that any sort of boycotting took place at a recent race meet put on by the sporting body.
The Robert Peters 2 Stage Race took place on August 21.
The first stage of the race saw cyclists competing in the Individual Time Trial, while the second stage, a criterion, was held at the old Pam Am Base and although there was some participation at the competition, there was admittedly a significant number of cyclists missing from the route.
But although Williams admits that it was one of the lowest attendance rates they have had in a while, he could not link the cyclist’s absence to any sort of protest.
In fact, Williams explained that many had spoken to him before the competition and informed him that they could not participate for multiple reasons.
“Some had work commitments. Some said they were sick. Some even said they weren’t up for that type of challenge because they weren’t doing so much training over the weeks.
“We had a break over the Carnival from since June. Actually, the last race we had was in June … so, some people would have voiced their concerns in the group chat.
“If there was a protest so to speak, some of the persons who were not at the race, they stated that they were not protesting but had other commitments,” Williams explained.
He mentioned that he was aware of such a plan but it was only one cyclist that actually would have carried it out, based on his findings.
“There was only one person who stated that he was the chief mastermind behind the whole boycott but there was no other person that came forward and said that they were a part of the boycott,” he added.
Tensions have been brewing within the local sporting body for some time but things truly came to light following the non-selection of one local prominent rider, Sean Weathered, and the selection of overseas-based rider, Conor Delanbanque, for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
Weathered actually made the point that it was a personal gripe from the president’s end as the reason behind his omission from the team.
He went on to say that his outspoken nature during meetings and in other settings also played a role in his non-selection, but days later Williams squashed that notion and explained that the body’s aim is to give younger riders an opportunity to get their feet wet.
He did, however, maintain that they made the right decision.
Ironically that decision would seemingly backfire and added fuel to the fire of an already delicate situation as Delanbanque was a no show at the international games, and did not communicate the reason for his absence.
An investigation has in fact been launched by Williams and his team to determine why Delanbanque failed to show up.