Panama City.- After being the protagonist of the entire race with constant escape attempts and even a final break with a couple of Colombian runners and a Salvadoran, the Chilean Vicente Rojas scored this Saturday an exciting victory in the sentence line to be crowned Pan-American champion of the men’s route in the sub 23 category.

With only 200 meters to go, Rojas did not believe his legs were tired and he threw himself with all his might to defeat the two Colombians who were coming in the last break: Juan Pablo Sossa and William Colorado, who couldn’t believe their eyes. , although they closed the podium with silver and bronze, respectively.

The 153.3 kilometers of the penultimate round of the Pan American Championship were intense and exciting, because unlike other races, this one was marked by a high pace and multiple escape attempts, controlled most of the time by the Colombian team, very active in the skirmishes of the day such as those that tried to form runners from El Salvador, Argentina, Chile and Ecuador.

However, the Argentinian Mateo Kalejmann and the Chilean Vicente Rojas decided to try their luck from the first pedal strokes and worked harmoniously to stay at the head of the peloton for several kilometres. After being neutralized, Roberto Herrera (Panama), Germán Darío Gómez (Colombia), Nixon Rosero (Ecuador) and Héctor Quintana (Chile), tried, but without success.

However, with four laps to go around the circuit, the Salvadoran Brandon Rodríguez dressed as the protagonist, jumping from the main pack and staying at the head of the race for several kilometers, until the Chilean Vicente Rojas himself and the Colombians Juan Pablo Sossa and William Colorado they gave capture. The four of them worked hard to maintain the break until the closing, where the Chilean was the most explosive in the sprint.

“I am very happy because beating two Colombians is something I did not think of. However, I had the strength to endure everything and finish off on a circuit that is very hard, not only because of the altimetry, but also because of the heat and humidity that we are not used to.” Rojas commented to the press.

This was the second gold for the Chilean squad in this Pan American Championship (2-2-3), second in the medal table behind Colombia (4-4-1) and ahead of the United States (2-1-0). Fourth place in the standings is for Ecuador (1-0-0), fourth delegation with champions. The rest continue like this: Canada (0-1-1), Costa Rica (0-1-0), while Bermuda, Mexico, Brazil and Cuba accumulate (0-0-1).

The event concludes this Sunday with the long-awaited elite men’s route test, with all eyes on the Colombian Miguel Ángel “Supermán López, although Ecuadorians, Canadians and Chileans will make the job difficult for the Colombian troops.