Hopkins On Successful Tour Of Guadeloupe
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Bermuda cyclist Kaden Hopkins has reflected on his superb performances at the Tour of Guadeloupe, which included winning two races.
Hopkins, who competes for French team Vendee U, won the second stage, a 161.4-kilometre race from Morne-à-l’Eau to Port-Louis, and the eighth stage, a time-trial from Old Fort to The Wall of Saint Claude.
He also had to dig deep to overcome a stomach issue before stage six, which meant he could not refuel during the race, finishing in 69th position.
“My main goal was to win a stage, and I was able to win two, which was great,” Hopkins told Bernews.
“My ambitions for the general classification went out of the window in the sixth stage.
“I had stomach issues and couldn’t eat anything during the race, which is crucial during a four-hour race. We eat every 20 or 30 minutes on the bike. After an hour and a half, two hours, I cracked and lost a lot of time. It meant I had to switch my ambitions.
“Luckily, I’d recovered from the stomach issues by the time-trial [stage eight].”
Vendee U, a Division One development outfit for Team TotalEnergies, won five of the ten stages and claimed two seconds and a third.
“As a team, we really don’t have any negatives to look back on,” said Hopkins, who had to settle for 32nd in the general classification. “We were right up there throughout.”
During the ninth stage on Sunday, Hopkins and team-mates Alfie George and Alessio Cialone became heroes after helping Benjamin Le Ny, of Uni Sport Lamentinois, hang on to his yellow jersey [the GC leader]
“The guy [Le Ny] had the leaders jersey, but his team had completely finished, so he thought he had lost it [the yellow jersey],” Hopkins explained.
“Our director came up in the team car and said, ‘Look, we’re going to look for the sprint [finish] but also try to help the guy in the yellow jersey.
“Me and my team-mates got on the front and brought the gap in a bit, down to about 11 seconds with 10km to go.
“We didn’t quite catch them [the lead pack], but we saved the leaders jersey [for Le Ny].
“People [from Uni Sport Lamentinois] were in tears, hugging us, and thanking us for helping. It was a great experience.”
Excellent job young man. Your improvements have been noted and are surprisingly impressive. Keep pressing on!