The first day of track cycling at the XIX Pan American Games left two clear winning teams in the team sprint: Mexico in the women’s team and Canada among the men’s; while Peru won the title in the exhausting omnium test with the Peruvian Néstor Ruiz.
The Mexican team made up of Jessica Salazar, Yuli Verdugo and Daniela Gaxiola achieved a time of 47.960 seconds and finished in first place, ahead of their two neighboring North American nations. The United States thus took the silver medal, with a time of 48.650 seconds and Canada completed the podium and took the bronze, with 49.110.
Gaxiola and Jessica Salazar once again felt the pleasure of Pan American gold, as both had formed the Mexican women’s speed team that won gold at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games and on this occasion they repeated the result. For this edition, a third cyclist was added to each team, so Yuli Verdugo was the one who joined the Pan American champion team.
In the gentlemen’s duel, Canada took the best part with the trident of Tyler Rorke, Nicholás Wammes and James Hedgcock, leaving a mark of 43.396, below what Colombia did (43.421) with the cyclists Carlos Echeverri, Rubé Murillo and Kevin Quintero. The Aztecs Jafet López, Juan Carlos Ruiz and Edgar Verdugo finished third in that competition.
In the demanding omnium – the last test of the day – the Peruvian Néstor Ruiz, after a discreet scratch where he finished in eleventh place, placed third in time and in the elimination race, to finish in the last speed discipline and take gold with a score of 125 units. Behind him were the Mexican Ricardo Peña (124) and the Chilean Jacob Decar (121).
The Peñalolén velodrome will host three more finals this Wednesday, with the highest expectations for the team pursuit and the women’s keirin. More than 20 countries participate in this type of cycling, adding points to the ranking of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.