South Trinidad will get the first taste of the inaugural Tour of Trinidad and Tobago, which pedals off today with the George Terry Stage from 7 a.m., a hill time trial event at San Fernando Hill.

Trinidad and Tobago's top road cyclist, US-based Emile Abraham, will lead, the US outfit Rossetti Devo cycling team in the first of two events. The second event is a circuit race along the Rienzi-Kirton Highway, starting and ending at NAPA.

Several international teams and riders United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Czech Republic, Canada, Uruguay and Colombia, and from the Caribbean Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana and a US-based Cuban team will also be battling for the overall title.

Among the top local-based riders are Adam Alexander, Jude Codrington, Thireef Smart, Barry Luces, Kelvin Tinto and Gevan Samuel, who will ride with Rosetti Devo. Smart and Codrington will ride with Team Petrotrin, sponsored by the oil company and owned by US-based coach/cycling promoter Roger Farrell.

From a local perspective, one man with a keen eye on today's races is national time trial champion, Jovian Gomez, a member of the three-man Bike Smith team contesting the "Tour". Gomez believes that the inaugural Tour of T&T will provide a great opportunity for local cyclists to test themselves against international competition. "It will give local riders a taste of international competition especially where road racing is concerned and it would put us on the map in terms of having pro teams coming here to compete. "Additionally, it would be a huge boost for local cyclists who never had the opportunity to go abroad and compete. Most international riders would be in action as much as three times a week, whereas, we do not have competitive action that frequently.

The rider feels more exposure to international competition can aid in boosting the standard of cycling locally.

Gomez has mixed feelings about his chances in today's opening stage, the George Terry's one kilometer Hill Time Trial at the San Fernando Hill. "I am average on the climbs but pretty good on the flat. The time trial I won was over a flat course, so I would have to go flat out over the hilly circuit in order to get a good time. "And I don't expect it to be easy as the competition would be quite stiff."

—Kern De Freitas

Source: www.trinidadexpress.com