Pier-André Coté (Canada) won the gold medal in the men's road race at the Pan American Championships held in Panama on Sunday.
Coté won from a small group sprint, crossing the finish line ahead of Argentina's German Nicolás Tivani, who earned the silver medal, while Charles-Étienne Chrétien, who is also from Canada, earned the bronze.
The victory for Coté came Just 24 hours after his 26th birthday. He was part of the decisive break of nine riders with two laps to go on the 12.8-kilometre circuit. The men completed 15 laps of a circuit in Panama City for a total of 204.8km.
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“I never thought that we could defeat the Colombians, but once the last leak occurred my teammate and I just set out to succeed,” he said after the finish. Both Canadian riders are part of the trade team Human Powered Health.
The men's road race concluded the 37th edition of the Pan American Championship of Road Cycling, which was held for the first time in Central America.
On Saturday, Skylar Schneider earned the gold medal for the United States in the women's 102km road race that was held on the same circuit. She out-sprinted Canada's Alison Jackson and Chile's Catalina Anais Soto.
In the time trials, Neben earned a gold medal for the United States in the women's event held on Tuesday, besting Chilean rider Aranza Villalón, while Jackson took third.
Colombia went 1-2 in the men's time trial, with Walter Vargas taking the gold and Miguel Ángel López the silver, while Bermuda's Kaden Hopkins earned bronze.
The Continental Championships is an important qualifier for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
There are only 88 places for the men's and women's road races, and allocations are based on the UCI Road World Ranking by nations for the year before the Olympic Games.
