AMIDST AN array of challenges owing to the pandemic, Trinidad and Tobago cycling continues to pedal forward, both on and off the track.
Competitively, the nation’s elite cyclists produced several breakthrough performances on the international circuit, particularly from Olympic debutants Nicholas Paul, Kwesi Browne (track) and Teniel Campbell (road).
Administratively, the TT Cycling Federation (TTCF) began a lengthy process to have the National Cycling Centre (NCC) in Couva attain official International Cycling Union (UCI) satellite centre status, possibly by 2025.
However, the local cycling fraternity remains starved for domestic competition owing to government’s covid19 restrictions. Only those who qualified for international competition, in all sports, were allowed to train, travel and compete.
This meant that cyclists, mainly juveniles and juniors, were forced to place their development on the back burner, in anticipation of a possible lift on local restrictions, which to date, remain intact.
It’s been 21 months since the TTCF last hosted a competitive event because of the pandemic.
[caption id="attachment_931403" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Nicholas Paul of Team Trinidad And Tobago, right, and Yuta Wakimoto of Team Japan competes during the track cycling men's omnium scratch race at the 2020 Summer Olympics, on August 5, in Izu, Japan. (AP PHOTO) -[/caption]
But with unexpected covid19 surges and the rise of new variants, athletes and sport administrators are uncertain of what the future holds for local sport.
TTCF president Rowena Williams remains optimistic for a possible restart but maintains the health and safety of the nation’s athletes is of top priority.
“All in all, the federation is in a good standing going forward and a lot more is planned for 2022. The plan to have the NCC approved as a UCI satellite centre is a work-in progress.
“We continue to have conversations with the Ministry of Sport and Community Development and UCI, making sure we put things in place to make it fully established.
“We do have the event calendar ready for 2022 prepared. Cyclists have been advised of the preliminary plans for competitions next year.
“We do plan to have some road racing and track events happening from January/February but those events depend on covid19 restrictions,” she said.
Although optimistic, Williams expressed concern with the federation’s TT$1 million-plus debt which her administration inherited after being appointed in February.
She confirmed that because the TTCF was unable to host any national events since her appointment, the debt still looms.
“Basically we knew we had a big debt on our hands and we still have, and some of our priorities were pushed back because of the pandemic. We couldn’t do anything this year to deal with that (debt).
“We’re still going out there seeking assistant partnerships with organisations. We’ve just completed our marketing plan so we are looking at targeting some sponsors and corporate partners to enable our cyclists to go out and do wh
