National cyclist lauds team effort for OECS triumph

National cyclist, Jyme Bridges Jr, has credited strategic teamwork for Antigua & Barbuda’s success at the OECS Cycling Championships held in Dominica on Sunday.
Bridges captured the top prize in a time of 3 hours, 29 minutes and 30 seconds with veteran rider Marvin Spencer, placing third in 3 hours, 4 minutes and 49 seconds and Jeffrey Kelsick finishing fourth with 3 hours, 5 minutes and 16 seconds.
Another Antiguan rider, Emmanuel Gayral, rounded off the top five with a time of 3 hours, 9 minutes and 24 seconds.
According to Bridges, the team’s strategy worked well despite the unfavourable weather conditions.
“We had a team meeting the evening before [Saturday] and we decided what we will try to do is keep the bunch together so that when we decided to make our move, it would hurt everyone, and capitalize on that and also take some opportunities where fit. It wasn’t really a chase where there was a specific point on the course where we were trying to get away but it’s just to try to manage the race ourselves and take control,” he said.
The cyclist, based in Trinidad, said his training there has served to improve some aspects of his game.
“I am doing quite a bit more track events down there [Trinidad] so I have quite a bit more speed now than I would have had back home [in Antigua] so that is actually a very big advantage in terms of putting down attacks or chasing a guy, I can get it done really fast as opposed to labouring over a long period of time,” he said.
Arguably the country’s top cyclist, Bridges said the terrain in Dominica proved a bit more challenging than anticipated.
“They sent out a course profile just a few weeks before so we could check out the elevations and get the information on the course but it actually had a few more ticks [hills] than the profile was showing so it was a bit more overwhelming than I expected,” he said.
Another of Antigua’s top cyclists, veteran Robert Marsh, was unable to complete the race after being involved in a collision with a police motorcycle.