WRITE OFF Barry Forde at your own risk.
The world certainly hasn’t.
Barbados’ fastest man on two wheels is still being rated among cycling’s best, at least according to the UCI standings, which have Forde eighth in the world in the keirin when the new rankings were released yesterday.
And that position represents a drop in standing for the one-time Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games gold medallist, who was rated number five in the world since August 2 and ranked as high as third this year.
This coming despite an ordinary performance at July’s CAC Games where Forde finished fourth in the keirin after failing to advance to the medal rounds of the match sprint.
But the 34-year-old former world number one did get a runner-up finish in the Pan America Championships’ keirin back in May, prior to finishing 2009 with a bronze at the year-ending Tasmanian Christmas Carnival meet in Australia.
That third-place finish came in a race that included then world No.1 Shane Perkins and former top ten cyclist Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysia.
Forde is next expected to representing Barbados at next month’s Commonwealth Games in India. (JM)
