Akil Campbell, Liam Trepte, Enrique de Comarmond, and Tariq Woods will represent the country at the Elite Caribbean Road Cycling Championships in Guyana on the weekend (November 2-3).
The quartet was chosen following their performances at the National Road Race Championships at which Campbell, the first local rider to medal in an endurance event internationally, pedalled to the Road Race Championship, and Trepte took the Time Trial crown.
Both will be the senior men on the team, though the younger pair of De Comarmond and Woods have shown the capacity to hold their own by placing second in the respective events.
President of the T&T Cycling Federation, Rowena Williams, said she expected the riders to not only perform well but return home with medals as the championships are being used as a qualifier for the Youth Pan American Championships in 2025.
The Youth Pan Am Championships will target cyclists under the age of 23, for which Trepte and Woods qualify.
Teniel Campbell, sister of Akil Campbell, is the lone T&T rider to have won the regional road race title. Last year, De Comarmond sealed the bronze medal, but outside of that, the country has generally struggled at road races Williams explained.
“Regionally we are not strong on the road. We have the Dominican Republic and other countries that do well, we have had to play catch up,” Williams said. “The road has been the one area we are lagging. We have been able to compete but we’ve not been able to dominate. We have been strong in track cycling because of the amount of international events. However, we have not been able to have many international road race events due to stipulations. For instance, one of our major challenges is that we cannot get the roads blocked off like it’s done outside.”
Williams gave the assurance that the four-man team will be given all the support it needs to achieve its goal.
The coach of the team is Ashton Williams, who also holds the position of manager, while Jovian Gomez will be the mechanic.
