SIMON CLARKE has grown accustomed to winning national titles.
Donning national colours? Not so much.
Cycling’s reigning two-time national road race king is still miffed at being left off the Commonwealth Games squad for Delhi, India, in spite of having dominated the local circuit for the better part of three seasons.
Clarke is questioning the Barbados Cycling Union and Barbados Olympic Association’s decision to omit him from the Delhi games while going with three riders, including teenager Darren Matthews.
“Darren was allowed to ride the road race but how can you do that when I am the national champ?” Clarke asked.
“I have no issue with him being selected to ride the track though because he is a good track rider, but between me and Mario [Forde] we have a hundred per cent record here at the [road] races this year.”
Originally selected for the squad to the Delhi games, Clarke was one of several cuts to the entire national contingent as Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) president Steve Stoute cited a lack of funds for the cutback.
“Nobody from the cycling union even informed us that we were no longer going,” alleged the disillusioned 25-year-old.
But the BOA’s financial constraints weren’t the only reasons given, as Stoute further implied that the country’s poor performance at the Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) also factored into the decision.
Back in July, cycling failed to account for any of Barbados’ ten medals in Puerto Rico, as Clarke and Forde didn’t complete the road race, while Matthews finished just two seconds behind the winner.
However, this was after the cycling contingent was made to do without its bikes for the first week of the games after the team’s gear was left behind in St Vincent.
“You can’t perform if your bicycle is in St Vincent for six days and you get it back just two days before the event,” explained Clarke.
And the saga has taken a further twist as the national champ has made himself unavailable for selection for next week’s Caribbean Cycling Championships in Guadeloupe.
“I was only informed this Tuesday and now I am supposed to get ready within a week for a meet which is a qualifier for the Pan American Games,” Clarke said of his decision to pull out.
“I would like the management team to move more professionally because I find this has been going on too long.”
BCU president Keith Yearwood and the public relations officer Colin Forde were both unavailable for comment, having not yet returned from the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
