Argentine Mateo Kalejman and Chilean Aranza Villalón became the new champions of the time trial events at the Santa Fe 2026 South American Games, securing victories without major difficulty in their respective categories this Tuesday, September 15.
Road cycling contributed two more medals to the Argentine national delegation at this multi-sport event. Mateo Kalejman, from San Juan, took gold in the men’s time trial in Rafaela, while his fellow countrywoman Delfina Dibella won bronze in the women’s event.
Kalejman, 22, completed the 48-kilometer course (four laps of a 12-kilometer circuit) in 54:58.56. With that time, he beat Colombia’s Walter Vargas—a seven-time Pan American champion and defending titleholder—by 28.92 seconds, and Chile’s Héctor Quintana by 2 minutes and 7 seconds.
In doing so, Argentina won a road cycling gold medal at this event for the first time in 16 years. The last compatriots to achieve this feat were Alejandro Borrajo (road race) and Matías Medici (time trial) at the Medellín 2010 Games.
The cyclist from the Cuyo region arrived at the competition as a two-time Argentine champion, having won titles in Río Cuarto (April) and Recreo (May) in 2025. Additionally, he had previously been the Pan American U23 champion in the discipline in Punta del Este and competed in the Road World Championships in Rwanda, where he finished 26th in the men’s U23 time trial.
The women’s podium and another streak broken
Meanwhile, Delfina Dibella finished third in the women’s time trial, which covered a distance of 36 kilometers. The 20-year-old cyclist from San Juan clocked a time of 48:26.52, finishing 51.48 seconds behind the champion, Chile’s Aranza Villalón, and 12.55 seconds behind Paraguay’s Agua Espínola, who took the silver.
With this result, the two-time Argentine Under-23 champion ended a 16-year podium drought for Argentine female road cyclists at this continental event. The last to achieve the feat was Valeria Muller, who also finished third in the time trial at the 2010 Medellín games.