By Neto Baptiste
The Antigua and Barbuda Cycling Federation (ABCF) has earmarked dates in August for the staging of its first Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) event.
This is according to president of the federation, St Clair Williams who said recent surges in the number of coronavirus cases could impact the way the event is staged.
“The date is already on the calendar for the 21 and the 22 of August, 2021, so it’s for us to make sure we have everything in place. We realised that the entire Europe or just about, have gone into another lockdown again, so we are keeping a close eye on that. We are also hoping to have some teams from the Caribbean so we are looking on all fronts,” he said.
In August last year the federation announced it had received permission from the International governing body to convert one of its annual races into a UCI-sanctioned event.
The 2021 domestic season is scheduled to push off on Sunday with the staging of a circuit race at the Pan Am Base in Coolidge, and Williams is hoping that having actual races will aid in their preparations for the August event.
“This executive is not sitting down doing nothing. We are working on the technical [guide] and we are almost finished. We are also just wrapping up our budget as well; and we have to plan as if everything is going to go well, because if we do not and all goes well, then people are going to be looking at us [and asking] what is going on with the race so we have to make sure everything is in place and that is exactly what we are doing behind the scenes,” the president said.
With the staging of the international event, Antigua and Barbuda will become the only English-speaking Caribbean country to have a UCI race on its calendar.