HAVANA. The Pan-American Games Guadalajara-2011 catapulted the cyclist Arlenis Sierra towards the continental summit. In that fight, the Cuban woman, then 18 years old, starred in a memorable getaway in the female route, a specialty that she won by breaking any pre-competition prognosis.
Eight years later, Granma has confirmed that this golden triumph was not the result of chance, as it established itself as an elite cyclist, among the best in the world, in high level route tests in Asia, Australia, Europe and America.
The representative of the Mayor of the Antilles arrives at the Pan-American Games Lima-2019 in excellent form, backed by a remarkable season with the Italo-Kazakh club Astana Women’s Team, a squadron in which she is the leader in retracing cranks streets, avenues and roads around the world.
In the Peruvian capital, the manzanillera will be presented in three events (route, time trial and omnium), events where it has great possibilities of getting on the podium, based on its experience. However, this does not mean that Arlenis has a “ride” when riding his bicycle.
“In the area of America there are good cyclists and I know some who will go to the Pan American Games, others do not have reference if they go or not, but doing so would give more level to the competition,” the girl told Granma via Internet from Colombia.
Precisely in coffee lands have been for a few weeks the national male and female cycling teams. The Cuban “bolides” settled in the city of Boyacá, where they completed the last phase of their Pan-American preparation by training days on the road and on the track.
“Both campuses are fine, a lot of preparation work could be done. There are some technical things to be defined that will be corrected in the coming days, but in a general sense the group that we are here is ready to play a leading role in Lima, “said Sierra.
About the tests where he will participate, Arlenis said he considers it fair to take part in three disciplines and does not intend to appear in more, to avoid exhaustion and fight for the gold medals on the road, the clock and the Omnium.
“It’s about three very strong events and I decided to just run those, where I will give my best. I do not think about gold medals, because that can put pressure on me and take my toll. The best thing is to go out and compete calmly and confidently that a good race will be achieved, I believe that the successes come better if they are approached from that perspective, “he said.
Arlenis indicated that the Omnium is the hardest of his three future outings in Lima, since in the year he has not yet run it, but in Boyacá he has been able to train to make a good race, where he will be the only representative for Cuba. (granma.cu)