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Bermuda's husband and wife cycling team are hoping to seal a Thomson double at the Caribbean Championships this weekend.

Garth Thomson and his wife Dee lead Bermuda's team at the regional event in St. Vincent.

And both are being tipped as podium contenders for the time trial title that Bermudian Kris Hedges has won four times.

Peter Dunne, team manager, said the Thomsons had been training hard for this event and had both broken the national time trial records this year.

"Garth has a great chance of being towards the top steps of the time trial podium.

'He's been posting times 5-10 per cent faster than in previous years and he seems to have made this event his specialty.

"It's the one type of race where you can make yourself better without the help of a lot of competition. It's just you and the clock."

Dunne said the Thomsons' improvement was down to the effort they had put in, in training.

Both have won medals at the Caribbean Championship before, but the gold has so far proved elusive.

Dunne feels that could be about to change.

"You would be hard pressed to see someone down there who would be a faster time trialler than Dee Thomson in the women's race.

"Her power on the bike is amazing. She's been training with Garth, drafting off him, which has helped her improve tremendously."

Dunne expects Bermuda to be extremely competitive at this weekend's championships and believes they have the ability to claim gold in the time trials and in the road race.

"It's extremely hard to do the double and sit on top of the podium each time simply because the road race comes a day after the time trial.

"There is definitely a possibility, though, that we could win both events."

Former pros Geri Mewett and Tyler Butterfield will also compete for Bermuda in Sunday's road race and Dunne believes the attention that duo will attract could create an opportunity for Thomson.

"Tyler will be very closely watched because he is a name internationally. They know he's the strong guy from Bermuda who rode for Slipstream, they know a little bit about Geri from previous championships but they might decide they don't need to watch Garth as closely because he's competed in the Time Trial.

"We have a fairly strong front in the race. If Tyler is the marked man then the other two have a chance to sneak through and make the podium."[[In-content Ad]]

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