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| Neil Thomas powers of the starting ramp as Cycling debuts in the Commonwealth Games |
MELBOURNE, Australia—Neil Thomas established the mark that future BVI cyclist will aim for, as the sport made its debut in the 18th Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia on Tuesday. Cycling joined Squash as the first sports in which the territory fielded representatives in the Commonwealth Games, besides athletics, which debuted in Auckland, New Zealand in 1990.
Thomas covered the 40K course on Melbourne’s south coast Beach Road in 1 hour, three minutes, 33.99 seconds, placing 56 among the field of 69 starters.
“It was hard and long but it was a good course,” Thomas said noting the day started off cold then got hot. “The weather made it really difficult, especially on the way out. There was a strong headwind and cross wind, and the course was a bit longer than they said it was. It was different to what we practiced on.”
The 24 mile course was line by eight times the BVI’s 25,000 population, which he said was overwhelming, something one has to witness for themselves. “I had had unbelievable experience doing that course,” he said. “There were people from end to end just cheering you on and clapping,” he noted.
With the race in March in the southern hemisphere, Thomas noted it was an unusual time to be competing since most races north of the equator are held later in the year. To prepare for the games, he had to accelerate his training. He said he will be in better shape by July and if he had to do the race later on, he knows he’ll break the one hour barrier.
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| Neil Thomas in the early stages of his 40K Time Trial |
“I’ve learnt a lot here, competing on a higher level with greater athletes, people who just cycle for a living,” the Royal Virgin Islands Police Officer noted. “The way that the Australians take their sports seriously, I have that experience which will last for a long time.”
Thomas said he has taken in everything he has learnt from being at a major game, and use it to prepare for future games to get better results.
His coach, brother and BVI Cycling Federation vice president David said Neil’s time is the first BVI national cycling record which is important. “We were hoping to break the hour barrier, but, the conditions were a lot harder than what we had trained for, but I’m actually happy with the way he rode,” David said.
“I’m happy with the times, especially after looking to see how we compared with fellow Caribbean cyclists. A lot of the guys he raced against before that had beaten him by numerous minutes beat him by a minute or 30-50 seconds—that in itself is an improvement. We have a lot of work to do for the CAC Games and it can only get better from here.”
