A roundup of the biggest stories as the new champions of North and South America were crowned, with a controversial winner of the men’s time trial and new talents to be aware of.
Federación Colombiana de Ciclismo
The eyes of the world were fixated on a 300 km stretch of road in Lombardy and the Ligurian coastline over the weekend, as Tadej Pogačar and Lotte Kopecky became the latest winners of cycling’s most electrifying one-day race. Simultaneously, 9,000 kilometres west, the champions of North and South America were being crowned at the Pan-American Championships in Montería, Colombia.
For many professional cyclists in North and South America, outside of its most elite, European-based contingent, this is the biggest week of their year. An opportunity awaited the riders to wear that ever-more familiar jersey (with the squiggly logo of the Pan-American Cycling Confederation on the chest) for 12 months, to score a boatload of UCI points and to secure an automatic qualification place to the Road World Championships in Montreal, Canada, this September.
Although Colombia is famed for its steep mountain passes and high altitude, the terrain around Montería is among the flattest in the country, meaning that the racing leaned towards the sprinters and rouleurs.
‘I don’t want to be the only Chilean riding overseas’
Catalina Soto Campos talks with Escape about her path to the pro peloton from Chile through Australia, and why there aren’t more women from South America racing in Europe.
Chilean sprinter Catalina Soto Campos, who rides in Europe for Spanish ProTeam Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi, came away with the women’s elite road title, taking the biggest victory of her career so far. Julieta Benedetti was second for Argentina, with local veteran Diana Peñuela third in the sprint.
“I’m in shock. It was and is my dream, and it came true,” Soto Campos said afterwards. “It was a very tough day. All my teammates believed in me; when you feel that, it gives you strength. The Pan-American Championships were a goal I’d been pursuing for a long time. It didn’t happen due to different circumstances, but the important thing was to maintain the mindset of achieving the goal of winning the title. I’m proud and grateful to my teammates. We worked as a team, and thanks to them, we were able to win the gold.”
An emotional Soto Campos on the podium alongside Julieta Benedetti (left) and Diana Peñuela (right).
Kristen Faulkner won the elite women’s time trial, taking the title for the first time in her career, and the USA’s fourth in succession. Teammate Emily Ehrlich was second for the second year in a row, with Chile’s Aranza Villalon third.
The elite men’s road race provided a shock winner, with Costa Rican Jason Huertas taking the win with the likes of former WorldTour pros Fernando Gaviria and Alvaro Hodeg struggling to contend. Burgos-Burpellet-BH’s Mexican sprinter Cesar Macias was second with Argentinian Leonardo Cobarrubia on the final step of the podium.
Controversy in men’s time trial
Experienced Colombian rider Walter Vargas extended his record as the man with the most time trial wins in the history of the Pan-American Championships. The 33-year-old now has seven victories, which includes four consecutive wins since 2023, but his victory will be overshadowed by his team’s suspension for doping violations.
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