St. Croix Mark Defur won the BVICF Championship title.

Defur, 18, finished the reduced course of two laps or 20.8 miles in a time of 54 minutes, 59 seconds to take the first BVI Cycling Federation Junior Championship title to St. Croix, which was held yesterday morning Sunday June 12, 2011 on the western end of Tortola.

Minutes before the announcement of the race, Defur, who was competing in the Under 19 division, had a mishap with his bike resulting in the broken bar and minor scrapes to his knees. The visiting team asked for time to allow them to fix the bike which was granted.

Before the race had got underway around 9 a.m, opposite the West End Police Station, Defur had kept himself warmed up by walking around the basketball court and as soon as the race began, he jumped into the lead that he maintained consistently throughout the race, winning it more than five minutes ahead of the second place finisher.

Shaquille Samuel of the Virgin Islands (infront) sprints ahead of St. Croix's Apolinar Acevedo to take second place.

The race for the second spot was much more exciting, with the Virgin Islands’ Shaquille Samuel and St. Croix’s Apolinar Acevedo sprinting to the finish line. But it was Samuel who took a narrow lead to earn him the second place finish in a time of 1 hour, 16 seconds.

Local rider Barnaby Nocholds came in fourth in a time of 1 hour, 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, in the Under-15 division, Justin Solomon completed his one lap course or 10.8 miles in a time of 27 minutes, 59 seconds with Orlando Savory finishing second in a time of 33 minutes, 56 seconds.

Presentation of cash prizes, trophies, medals and certificate were handed out by Mrs. Susanna Hennigan-Potter, representative of Harneys, of one of the Championship sponsors.

The BVICF would like to thank Harneys, Road Town Wholesale and Gatorade and Horizon Yacht Charters for sponsoring the event.

The next event on the BVICF calendar is the June 26 Road Town Highway Challenge.

The winners with Harneys Representative Mrs. Susanna Hennighan-Potter.