By Neto Baptiste
The acquiring of a number of bikes through the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) will help to jumpstart the Antigua and Barbuda Cycling Federation (ABCF) schools programme.
This is according to President St Clair Williams who said the local body recently received a generous donation from their international partner which will be used to propel the development of young cyclists in Antigua and Barbuda.
“We would have received 10 new bicycles through the UCI solidarity programme and we actually have the bikes here in Antigua right now, so we are now ready to go and launch that programme. Cycling is extremely busy and doing a lot with respect to developing the sport in Antigua and Barbuda and getting the youngsters on board. We are hoping by the next week or two to get a few of these youngsters signed up with the federation and into clubs so we could distribute these bikes [and] they could start training so we could get that schools programme off the ground,” he said.
Williams also revealed that the federation will soon launch its electronic-cycling or e-cycling platform that will allow cyclists here to train and compete with others from anywhere around the world.
“Now we are in possession of five smart trainers that you can use to do e-cycling and e-cycling is all about riding, cycling and training online against anyone in the world as long as you have internet connectivity. So we are utilising technology in cycling and that’s the way we are going; that’s just one thing we are going to be doing this year,” the president said.
The cycling federation will open its season on February 20 with an individual time trial on the roads surrounding the Pan Am base in Coolidge.