OLIVE BRANCH?
The disgruntled cyclists would still rather accept Keith Yearwood’s resignation.
The time for talk is over for Greg Downie, as the veteran rider said the next course of action would be to raise a petition seeking the removal of the Barbados Cycling Union (BCU) president following a discrepancy with yet another national championship event.
Downie revealed the move in an email sent to SUNSPORT after the BCU had initially reduced next Sunday’s National Road Race from the customary 100 miles to 72 for the senior cyclists.
“If our elite riders are to be given the opportunity to represent our country in regional competition, such as Caribbean Cycling Championships, CAC Games and Pan American Championships, they will be ill-prepared as these events are traditionally 100 miles or more,” wrote Downie.
“This is a break from a long-standing tradition of the National Road Race being a 100-mile event – a challenge that contenders train towards specifically to meet, with many riders training up to six hours some days over hilly terrain in extremely humid weather.
“This is an example of the BCU’s practice of deviating from high standards,” he added.
Racing secretary Livy Headley said the BCU had since returned the race to its original distance though, explaining the move was done at the request of their national coach, who wanted to focus on specific elements with his training squad.
However, the subsequent change has done little to soften Downie’s stance as the veteran cyclist said he planned to have at least 50 signatures on the petition, which will be presented at the start of the road race.
It’s just the latest in an ongoing back and forth between the BCU and a group of irate riders including Downie, who went to the media to call for Yearwood’s immediate resignation in light of the sport’s “drastic decline”.
Coach Colin Forde also publicly hinted at a boycott of the National time trial event before G4S Team Swift truly abandoned the event.
The actions prompted Yearwood to extend an olive branch, with the BCU president asking those cyclists to meet the cycling body instead of airing their grouses in the media.
But Downie dismissed any suggestions that these riders haven’t brought these “issues to the table for dialogue with the BCU.
“This is very far from the truth as riders have been directly communicating with the BCU racing secretary on a number of issues regarding the state of cycling in the nation,” countered Downie.
“Here it is that the BCU administration yesterday [Wednesday] sent out an email just ten days before the start of the National Road Race Championship, changing the course altogether and altering the distance from 100 miles to 72 miles without any dialogue with the various participants.”
The National Road Race Championships are slated to start just outside the Graeme Hall junction at 6 a.m.