St Lucia’s Sydney Charles about to cross the finish line while Jyme Bridges (l) and Reggie Douglas battle for second place.

Since 1991 St Lucia has not had an OECS Cycling Champion. The long wait is over. On Sunday Sydney Charles over came the heat and the persistence of Jyme Bridges (Antigua) and Reggie Douglas (St Kitts and Nevis) to win Sunday’s gruelling OECS 114 km  road race.
The race which attracted cyclists from Antigua,
St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada and St Vincent & the Grenadines got underway about 9:30 am outside government buildings on the waterfront. From there riders made their way through town to the Millennium Highway to Ravine Poisson. From there, cyclists made auturn and proceeded to the
Pigeon Island junction, then back to Ravine Poisson. Cyclists covered the route twice with the finish line back where it all started—on the waterfront.
Charles who has been studying in the United States for the last five years, covered the distance in 3hours, 13 minutes and
10 seconds. Bridges was a close second followed by Douglas.
St Lucia ended the day with two riders in the top 10 - Kurt Maraj (fourth) and Winston “Stoney” Williams (ninth). Eustace Dookie placed 12th (3:27.45), Kirk Maraj 14th (3:33.31) and Michael Jn Baptise was 18th among the other St Lucians who finished the race.
The top female rider was Kathryn Bertine of St Kitts and Nevis who races for a professional team in the United Sates called Specialized/Bicyle House. Although the heat was a factor, she said the course was wonderful and at the same time
challenging.

Bertine who has a background in the triathlon was one of the few women cyclists in the race. She turned professional last year and is currently training for the upcoming World Championships in Switzerland.

It was a gruelling event which took its toll on several riders including St Lucia’s Chester Forde. There were several attacks and counter attacks aimed at catching or challenging the front riders. During the latter stages of the race with the main pack of little or no consequence, Charles seemed to be collaborating with Douglas to track down Bridges. They did, but after that no one seemed eager to take the initiative.
After making the final U turn at Pigeon Point and heading back towards the finish line at government buildings, Charles, Bridges and Douglas were still waiting to see just who would make the first move. It was a three man race with the main pack nowhere near striking position.
Coming into the home stretch, Charles made his lead move. With teeth clenched and legs pumping like automotive pistons, he accelerated across the finish line. Bridges just barely held off Douglas for second place.
In an interview following the race, Charles expressed some concern about his energy level, after Douglas and himself finally caught up to Bridges.
“Commenting on the chase Charles said: “I was a bit worried about eventually getting caught. If we did we were doomed because we had been out for so long expending so much energy in the hot sun.”
He went on to say: “I was just interested in working really hard and keeping the pace nice and high and hoped the best. It worked out pretty good for us.”
Charles was pleased with the support of his teammates and felt they all performed very well. However, he admitted their original plan did not go as expected.
President of the St Lucia Cycling Association, Cyril Mangal agreed. He said: “Some of the team’s tactics were not the best, but you adjust your tactics to race situations and I think it worked out pretty well for us.”
He went on to say: “We were hoping to finish one, two, three but we are very satisfied with first place.

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