Louise DePuy, St. John U. S. Virgin Islands, 10th overall in 2002.

“I just thought ‘That full course is really going to hurt me today. Let me stick to something I know I’m capable of,’” she explained of her decision to do the women’s race in 2003. “Of course when I finished, I thought ‘Why didn’t I do the full.’ I’ve been a couch potato lately and you got to have a lot of respect for this course.”

Women's Champion Dupey!!

BVI Cycling Federation President David Thomas.

“There’s no easy course in doing Tour de Tortola. Once you have to go up Windy Hill, it’s going to kill you.”

Phillippe Leroy, 2nd place finisher Tour de Tortola 2003.

“I couldn’t climb well today,” noted Leroy in his first tour in three years. “It’s as tough as before. I would love to win it once. That would be nice.”

Andrew Young, 2003 Champion!.

“It’s a great race. Well organized. But, I got a bit of a shock losing the time trial,” he said. “I had to go home and think on how I’d outsmart Phillippe. I tried to go fast and wear him down on the way to West End and it paid off. He went hard through Steel Point. I caught him going up Windy Hill as he faded a bit. From there on, it was trying to get to the finish as fast as possible.”

2003 Champion Young!!

Tim Smith, St. Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands.

“Everything was so well organized. A great course but a little bit difficult up Windy Hill. I wasn’t passed, but the rest of the course was kind of tough. I wished I could have done better, but there were four of us that finished in about 16 seconds of each other. It doesn’t get more competitive than that.”

Paul Hart, Gainesville, Florida.

“The climbs were long and steep. Windy Hill was just like a big climb we have in Gainesville, except I was out in the middle of the ocean,” said Hart who slipped from third to seventh on the hill. “It was really hard and there was some tough competition. Those guys are serious. They definitely surprised me. From time we left Road Town there were attacks. Everybody was in race mode for sure.”

Paul Hart

Joe Giacinto, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands 2002 tour.

At 60, Joe Giacinto was the oldest participant in the field. “I made a goal to knock half hour off last year’s time, not beating anybody-the clock and the course were my opposition,” he explained, after beating two participants. “That’s the first time. I’ve relinquished my last place position-definitely a bonus. I can no longer claim that-I now have to do better.”

John Miller 3-time champion, ’99, ’01, ‘02 and course record holder of 2 hours, 08 minutes and 34 seconds established in 2002!!

“After going through the off road section of Steel Point, I saw an opening to the left and picked up the pace a little bit,” Miller said of the decisive move. “It was the same torturous hill and route, but, I’ve been training a bit and felt quite fit and it was whether or not the competition showed up.”

Jim Cullimore, Former BVI Cycling Federation President who participated in all 10 tours!!!

1999,2001,2002 Champion Miller!!! (file photo)

“Just finishing a tour is always a highlight,” he said. “I pushed myself very hard today. I really wanted to win my division and I wanted a good result. I wanted to be in the top 10. I achieved both today. But, the competition has gotten better now than it used to be in the past. In the past we had lots of recreational riders, people just going out there to challenge themselves. But now the quality of riding is improving so, to get in the top 10 nowadays you have to be pretty good.”

© Copyright 2003 BVI Cycling Federation

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