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Racing News<\/a><\/p>\n A roundup of the biggest stories as the new champions of North and South America were crowned, with a controversial winner of the men\u2019s time trial and new talents to be aware of.<\/p>\n Federaci\u00f3n Colombiana de Ciclismo<\/p>\n 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 Poga\u010dar and Lotte Kopecky became the latest winners of cycling\u2019s 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 Monter\u00eda, Colombia.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although Colombia is famed for its steep mountain passes and high altitude, the terrain around Monter\u00eda is among the flattest in the country, meaning that the racing leaned towards the sprinters and rouleurs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018I don\u2019t want to be the only Chilean riding overseas\u2019<\/p>\n Catalina Soto Campos talks with Escape about her path to the pro peloton from Chile through Australia, and why there aren\u2019t more women from South America racing in Europe.<\/p>\n Chilean sprinter Catalina Soto Campos, who rides in Europe for Spanish ProTeam Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi, came away with the women\u2019s elite road title, taking the biggest victory of her career so far.\u00a0Julieta Benedetti was second for Argentina, with local veteran Diana Pe\u00f1uela third in the sprint. <\/p>\n \u201cI’m in shock. It was and is my dream, and it came true,\u201d Soto Campos said afterwards. \u201cIt 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.”<\/p>\n Kristen Faulkner won the elite women’s time trial, taking the title for the first time in her career, and the USA\u2019s fourth in succession. Teammate Emily Ehrlich was second for the second year in a row, with Chile\u2019s Aranza Villalon third.<\/p>\n The elite men\u2019s 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\u2019s Mexican sprinter Cesar Macias<\/a> was second with Argentinian Leonardo Cobarrubia on the final step of the podium.\u00a0<\/p>\n Controversy in men\u2019s time trial<\/p>\n 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\u2019s suspension for doping violations.<\/p>\n This post is for paying subscribers only Already have an account? Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n Did we do a good job with this story?<\/p>\n \n \ud83d\udc4dYep![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DanChallis.jpeg\")
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An emotional Soto Campos on the podium alongside Julieta Benedetti (left) and Diana Pe\u00f1uela (right).<\/p>\n
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