Nicole Mitchell Claims Second Medal In Antigua
Bermuda’s Nicole Mitchell collected her second medal of the championship weekend in Antigua with her third place finish. Local favorite Tamiko Butler took the title ahead with Marisol Tellado of Puerto Rico in second place.
Butler attacked both times the course hit the tough climb,using her local knowledge to split the field. The first time she crested the climb with the two riders from Puerto Rico, leaving Mitchell and the representative of Belize to claw their way back to the leaders. On the second lap Butler again split the field, and eventually brought one Puerto Rican with Mitchell on her own to chase for the last half of the lap, finishing third on her own.
In the men’s race Bermuda’s team race hard but came away empty-handed. PRe-race expectations for Dominique Mayho were high but on the second lap he succumbed to stomach cramps which caused him to be dropped from the main bunch and record a Did Not Finish. Darren Galsford came unhitched from the pack on the main climb, leaving him to ride solo until dropping out.
Mark Hatherley and Geri Mewett stayed with the main peloton which was then split and the Bermuda duo nearly closed the gap but were unable to make the final connection as their companions all had teammates in the leading bunch. Both Mewett and Hatherley finish the 84 mile event in the top 25, a particularly satisfying result for Hatherley who was eliminated from last year’s CCC in Jamaica with an early crash. Boris Carene of Guadeloupe was the winner of the 2012 men’s road race.
The team returns to Bermuda on Tuesday evening and will be looking forward to racing the final BBA road race of the 2012 season on Sunday when Crime Stoppers Cycling Team hosts the event at Prospect.
Congrats all the hard training is paying off.
Too fast for gas…
Nice one Nicole!