Tour de Bahamas Race Report – Oliver Cadin
On the 6th of February I travelled to Florida to race the Swamp Classic Stage Race, which I won in 2025, however this was cancelled due to adverse weather.
Instead, I had a week of quality training with the University of Florida cycling programme that I was a part of last year. This involved lots of drills and structured sessions focused on technique as well as riding at speed. Training in the heat was also very beneficial.
The following weekend, I travelled to the Bahamas to race the Tour de Bahamas, which I also won last year.
The field size was roughly 55 riders, which was a little smaller than the year before. This contained most of the Florida programme, some other Florida fast-men, the Dominican and Bahamian national champs, riders from commonwealth games, and other local Bahamian riders.
The first stage was a 3-mile prologue with a dead turn halfway, which is held on the main highway, essentially their ‘avenue’. I averaged 28mph and won the stage by 6 seconds, narrowly beating another ex-Florida rider who currently holds a pro license.
Two hours later, there was the criterium, which was held around downtown Freeport. After about ten minutes, there was an established break of 3 riders up the road, 2nd man on GC then attacked, and I went with him with another rider. We then bridged to the break and attacked, where the group then split to 4 riders.
We worked together riding hard, and it slimmed down to three. All of us left were Florida/ex-Florida riders after the Bahamian road champ got dropped. I then collected 2/3 primes, which meant I gained 2 bonus seconds. This was key as the GC is done on exact timing chips as opposed to average placing. It then came to a sprint where I edged out the other two and got a PB for 15, 10, 5, and peak power, which I was happy with.
Going into Sunday, it was difficult to recover due to the heat and challenges with taking on enough carbs.
The last stage is an 84-mile road race around the island, passing the airport, downtown, and the main tourist area. As soon as the neutral section ended, there were attacks and a group of seven formed. We worked together and grew a massive gap. Attacks then started once the gap was big enough, and people started playing games. I wanted to get away from a couple of the sprinters, so at mile 40 I went solo. I then got countered and was in a 4-man break. I then attacked this and ended up taking the 2nd placed rider on GC with me.
We then worked together for the next 40 miles, and then, coming into the last roundabout before the finish, he sent a long-range sprint. I managed to get back onto his wheel but ran out of road to come around him on the line.
I won overall by 8 seconds on GC, set some great new power numbers, and became the first rider to win two consecutive tours. Being able to race in the heat so early in the season, as well as train in the weather and flat roads, and to receive coaching from the programme was a fantastic opportunity.
The race was organised to a very high level and gave many ideas that could help the organisation of the Easter Stage Race.
Thank you to CCC for all the support this season, first race for CCC, first win!