Montería – Brazilian cyclist Maite Coelho admitted she was speechless after winning the women’s junior individual time trial title, the first awarded at the Pan American Road Cycling Championships, which began Tuesday in Montería, the capital of Córdoba, Colombia. The event featured 30 nations and 285 cyclists.
Coelho couldn’t hold back her tears of joy upon learning the final result, as she embraced her coach. “It was a real surprise. I had just come from racing in Europe in the cold and arrived here yesterday. I suffered a lot in the intense heat, but everything went according to plan and I got the victory,” she said after covering a distance of 14.5 kilometers through the main streets of the city.
“I’m very happy. Honestly, this is like a dream. I’m grateful to everyone who has always believed in me, and this motivates me to continue in this sport that I love. My aspirations are to keep training and achieve new awards in my upcoming competitions,” Coelho told COPACI exclusively.
In addition to the Brazilian rider’s superb performance, the Colombian cyclists also delivered strong showings, finishing behind the winner with the silver and bronze medals, with Estefanía Castillo and Lineth García taking the silver and bronze, respectively.
Fifteen cyclists from ten different countries competed in this category, which Colombia dominated in the last two continental championships, with Luciana Osorio from Antioquia winning the gold medal in both editions.
Pan American Road Cycling Championships – CRI
Results CRI » Circunvalar › Buenavista (14,5 km)
| 1 | Maitê Coelho | Brasil | 20:21 | |
| 2 | Estefanía Castillo | Colombia | 0:05 | |
| 3 | Lineth Valentina García | Colombia | 0:19 | |
| 4 | Nabyenka Garcíaa | México | 0:35 | |
| 5 | Alexandra Osorio | Chile | 0:39 | |
| 6 | Cecilia Torrales | Paraguay | 1:08 | |
| 7 | Nahomi Jativa | Ecuador | 1:09 | |
| 8 | Alison Fuertes | Ecuador | 1:13 | |
| 9 | María Sánchez | Venezuela | 1:18 | |
| 10 | Brania Orquera | Bolivia | 1:20 | |
| 11 | Ana Fierro | Chile | 1:28 | |
| 12 | Alice Villalba | Paraguay | 2:19 | |
| 13 | Francell Martínez | Costa Rica | 2:26 | |
| 14 | Cheyenne Urquizu | Bolivia | 2:38 | |
| 15 | Sol Mockford | Uruguay | 2:51 |