Day Four at the 2024 Pan American Track Cycling Championships

April 7, 2024

Team USA finishes day four of the Pan American Track Cycling Championships with gold medals in the Women’s Points Race and Women’s Individual Pursuit along with bronze medals in the Women’s Time Trial and Women’s Pursuit.

CARSON, Calif. /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – Day four was a must-see with a full roster of finals including: Women’s 500m Time Trial, Women’s Points Race, Women’s Individual Pursuit, Men’s Omnium, and Men’s Sprint.

In the Women’s 500m Time Trial, Team USA’s Emily Hayes (Rock Hill, S.C.) and Keely Ainslie (Fullerton, Calif.) closed out the morning session both advancing to the final in the third and fourth qualifying positions. Returning for an explosive start to the evening session, Hayes would take the bronze medal with a time of 34.923. Jessica Salazar Valles of Team Mexico, and World Record holder in this event, claimed the silver. Martha Bayona Pineda of Team Colombia won the gold.

Team USA’s Jennifer Valente (San Diego; TWENTY24 Pro Cycling) claimed her fourth gold of the week with a spectacular showing in the Women’s Points Race where she gained three laps and took three Sprints to finish with a total of 79 points.

Coming off Thursday’s victory in the Women’s Team Pursuit, Emily Ehrlich (Greenville, S.C.; TWENTY24 Pro Cycling) and Olivia Cummins (Fort Collins, Colo.; DNA Cycling) rocketed through the Women’s Individual Pursuit Qualifying, clocking the first- and third-fastest times to advance to the Final. Cummins battled against Ngaire Barraclough of Team Canada to win the bronze medal with a time of 3:34.891. Ehrlich went up against Aranza Villalon Sanchez of Team Chile in a powerfully paced pursuit where she won the gold medal with a time of 3:31.689.

Colby Lange (Edwards, Colo.) represented Team USA in the Men’s Omnium and went into the evening session in second place. During the morning session, Lange finished fourth in the Scratch Race and rode a beautifully paced Tempo Race where he won eight sprints and gained a lap. It ultimately came down to the last few laps of the final Points Race event where Juan Esteban Arango Carvajal of Team Colombia claimed the silver by just one point over Ricardo Peña Salas of Team Mexico who took the bronze. Chris Ernst of Team Canada would win the gold.

The Men’s Sprint Quarter-Final, Semi-Final, and Final continued to bring the heat all day long. In the Final, Santiago Ramirez Morales of Team Colombia and Jaïr Tjon En Fa of Team Suriname battled for bronze. Ramirez Morales would take it by 0.467 in the decider race. Nicholas Paul of Team Trinidad & Tobago would win the gold in a truly stunning Ride 2 photo finish against Cristian David Ortega Fontalvo of Team Colombia who took the silver.

Full results for day four, along with the schedule and live timing for day five, can be found here.

Visit USACycling.org for more information on the athletes, events, and membership programs, and follow @USACycling across all channels for the latest on Team USA.

For more information, contact Sabrina Potter at spotter@usacycling.org.

ABOUT USA CYCLING (usacycling.org)

USA Cycling is the national governing body for the sport of cycling and oversees the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclocross, gravel, BMX, and esports. USA Cycling’s mission is to grow participation and engagement with the sport of bicycle racing and achieve sustained international success across all cycling disciplines. USA Cycling supports cyclists of all levels and abilities, from those just beginning in the sport to international caliber athletes. The organization identifies, develops, and selects cyclists to represent the United States in international competition through the support of youth and interscholastic programs, amateur and grassroots bike racing events, athlete development programs, and operational support for cycling clubs, racing teams, and event organizers. USA Cycling has a membership of 80,000, sanctions over 2,500 events annually, and is a member of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).