Confidence is high as an 11-member cycling team departs the island today for the Elite Pan American (Pan Am) and Caribbean Road Cycling Championships in the Dominican Republic.

Divided into three teams — female Under-23 and Elite — the 11 cyclists will go in search of qualification to the Pan Am Junior Games in Cali, Colombia, later this year and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, respectively.

While it is not the country’s first outing for the Caribbean Championship, the Under-23 team of Andrew Ramsey, Kevan Pryce, Alex Morgan, Steven McCalla, and Brandon Reid will be making a debut appearance at the Pan Am championship.

It will also be the first time that Jamaica’s cycling body will have three teams venturing overseas for an event.

Russell Small, Jerome Forest, Mark Williams, O’Brian Modorie, and Jemar Brissett make up the Elite team, while seasoned triathlon campaigner Llori Sharpe is the lone female.

Despite preparations being hindered by the Government’s restrictions to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Head Coach Adrian Clarke is excited about the prospects.

“The preparation has been good and the prospects of medalling is also good. Because of the COVID restrictions, we had to find creative ways to train, so we did some indoor training, but after the prime minister relaxed things in June, we were able to access the road,” Clarke explained.

“We believe we can go over there and medal. The only problem now is that we don’t know our competitors because no cycling events were happening in the pandemic, but based on the performances of the guys locally, I am confident we should do well.

“The Under-23s will be qualifying for the youth games in Cali, Colombia. The Elites can qualify for the Commonwealth Games too and there are seven qualifying spots. So even if we don’t medal they need to finish top seven,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Clarke, who expressed a passion about the growth of cycling, is backing current President Dr Wayne Palmer to bring cycling back to its heyday and believes the assembling of the departing team is a step in that direction.

“This new administration, we have been in office since last year October and we had a mandate of bringing back cycling to its heyday, which is why we brought the guys in a form of academy style,” Clarke shared.

“So, instead of having a one or two man in training, we have a cadre of cyclists. So we have some youth development programmes from 12 years old and we have females, which is why we are able to field this team to Dominican Republic,” he noted.

Clarke recollected how David Weller won a bronze medal in cycling at the 1980 Moscow Games, making it the only sport to cop an Olympic medal outside of athletics.

It is this legacy that Clarke and his team are now aiming to build on.

“We are so charged about the development of cycling, so we are doing things differently because, remember, we have the rich legacy of being the only sport to medal outside of track and field.

“We also have this plan now to get into the schools to do a similar programme like football and cricket and track does, if COVID allows. Because we know that once we invest in the youth we will have an athlete or two who can qualify for the Olympics,” he said.