Professional cycling is growing in the Caribbean
The region has more cyclists in UCI teams than ever before and that number is set to grow.
The Caribbean is a region which you might not associate immediately with professional road cycling. Cricket are Athletics are probably the two sports which come to mind most easily. In the coming years, that could all change as the popularity of the bike grows on the islands of the western Atlantic.
Some Caribbean nations do have a history in the sport. Think of Nicolas Paul from Trinidad & Tobago. He’s the Flying 200 meter world record holder on the track and a Commonwealth gold medallist in the Keirin in 2022. Also Bermuda’s Tyler Butterfield, who was once a World Tour pro with Team Slipstream in 2007.
Another rider of note is Yohann Gené, who hails from Guadeloupe and had a long, successful career with the team now known as TotalEnergies.
In many ways, these nations are not the natural locations for bike riders to thrive. The sheer distance from a recognisable racing scene, a lack of coaching infrastructure and visas are three obvious inhibitors.
Living on a small island is a challenge in itself. Kaden Hopkins, a young Bermudian rider who currently races for Vendée U in France, told me that when he was stuck on the island during the pandemic, he just had to “do laps of a tiny little island every day." Not naturally motivating terrain for a five-hour endurance training ride.
Hopkins added: "Growing up where I did, people always used to say: 'you're from Bermuda, you won't be a pro cyclist.' I would see, in Europe, 18 year-olds already winning races against the pros and getting contracts. Right off the bat it felt like you were playing catch up. Being from such a small place and being so far from Europe, it's not as easy to get into a bigger racing scene."
Hopkins is one who has bucked the trend. Through his agent, Diego Milan, he has managed to make it to Europe and onto a feeder team for a professional outfit (Vendée U sends many of their riders to TotalEnergies, including Yohann Gené).
Hopkins, a winner five times in 2023, hopes to follow in the footsteps of several riders from the Caribbean who are now racing for professional teams. These are Teniel Campbell (Trinidad & Tobago, Jayco AlUla), Arlenis Sierra (Cuba, Movistar) and Abner Gonzalez, (Puerto Rico, Movistar).
There are also several riders competing a continental level including the likes of Red Walters of Grenada, Justin and Cory Williams of Belize and Jamaica’s Llori Sharpe.
Sharpe rides for Canyon // SRAM Generation (look out for a feature interview with her next week).
She’ hopeful about the growth of cycling in the Caribbean, telling Global Peloton: “I think when people actually see those success stories, it makes them a bit more excited to be more involved in the sport, taking it more seriously and seeing how far they can reach for themselves.”
It’s a similar story in many parts of the world. Once people see others like them succeeding, it fosters a sense of belief in themselves and can inspire a generation to follow in their footsteps.
That’s what seems to be happening in Bermuda, where racing is growing quickly in its popularity.
"On a good weekend you might get eighty people racing across the different categories. During the season there are almost weekly races,” Hopkins said.
Bermuda in particular has a wave of young talent emerging, thanks to dedicated coaches within the Bermuda Bicyle Association. Hopkins told me: “we have five or six guys around my age now all racing for Bermuda and we all came through that programme. For just a small island, there's a really good support system and a good way into the sport."
Most other nations in the Caribbean are less developed in their coaching, but talent is still growing.
That was evident at last week’s annual running of the Campeonato del Caribe [Caribbean Championships] in Guadeloupe, where the region’s young talent featured heavily on the results sheets. It should be noted, however, that none of the Caribbean’s three World Tour riders were in attendance.
First up was the individual time-trials where Bermuda showed their class. They swept the men’s podium with Conor White winning ahead of two-time champion Hopkins and Nic Narraway.
Gabriella Arnold took her first Caribbean championship win and another for Bermuda in the women’s TT. Marie Eratin of Sint Maarten was second and Guadeloupe’s Severine Ferdinand was third.
Local knowledge was clearly very important in the road races as the Guadeloupeans won both events.
Evelyne Briche won the women’s race for the hosts ahead of Sharpe and young Kelyane Julus of Martinique. It’s encouraging to note that four riders in the top-10 are 23 and under.
Guadeloupe went 1-2 in the men’s race with Damien Urcel and Mathieu Pellegrin. They beat Red Walters of Grenada into third place. Again, there were four riders 23 and under in the top-10.
The future is bright for Caribbean cycling, but as is true in many other parts of the world, the riders need a proper pathway to progress towards becoming professionals.
Sharpe said: “I think in the Caribbean as a whole we could probably do more work in seeing how best we can make connection in terms of providing a pathway for cyclists to transition into the professional ranks.”
The UCI do have a satellite in Trinidad & Tobago which played a role in Teniel Campbell moving to Europe. Hopefully they will pick up more talented riders from the region. Responsibility also lies with the national federations, who struggle for funding in competition with bigger sports.
The talent is there in the Caribbean, and that will only grow. With the right measures in place, we will see many more riders like Teniel, Arlenis and Abner in the future.
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Great article and thanks for highlighting the Caribbean!