"I WILL BE BACK."

That's suspended cyclist Barry Forde talking.

Determined as ever, Forde, now back on home soil for the first time since being served a two-year drugs suspension from cycling, says quitting the sport is out of the question.

Speaking to well-wishers on his arrival, Forde said the fact that he was continuing with his usual training schedule might come as a surprise to some people, particularly those who consider his international cycling career to be at an end following the sanction imposed on him in September by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

"I'm no stranger to hardship," he said. "Anybody who has followed my career knows that I've never had it easy; I've always had to struggle for every single inch I've gained in this sport.

"Maybe that's a blessing; maybe if I had had it easy all these years this situation would have completely destroyed me. But I'm still standing and I want all of Barbados to know that, God willing, I will be following my usual training routine and preparing to get back on the cycling track as soon as I'm eligible."

Forde, 29, arrived in Barbados on Wednesday for a three-week training camp accompanied by Daniel Giese and Sebastian Freese, two members of his training squad from Berlin, Germany.

He will be off his racing bike for two years and two months after the CAS ruled against him and the Barbados Cycling Union (BCU) in a dispute with the governing body for the sport, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), over a positive drug test.

Forde, the only Barbadian rider to have won a medal at the Commonwealth Games, tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone/epitestoterone with a ratio of 8.1, way above the normally accepted level of 4.0.

He said he expected there would be some speculation about his future, but noted that while some might have already written him off for various reasons, he was receiving a great deal of support and encouragement from others.

"It's tough to be out of competition, but I'm happy to report that my training team in Germany, far from abandoning me, has developed a programme to enable me to obtain my competitive targets and maintain my form.

"There are also lots of people in Barbados who have encouraged me throughout this ordeal, and who have pledged to continue to support me. That means a lot." (MK/PR)