May 10, 2008 (Montevideo, Uruguay) - Svein Tuft found the perfect recipe for yet another gold medal at the 2008 Pan American Track Championships in Uruguay - mix 17 degrees of sunshine with a 19.5km loop x 2, add 50.197 km/hr to offset the strong winds to produce an outstanding winning time of 46:37.
Tuft was fastest at the two checkpoints on the course as he powered his way along the shoreline of Montevideo. He was the third last starter and he picked off his minute men, one by one, in a metronome like manner. Never letting up, despite a heart-stopping near-brush with a random car on the course, he rode with strength unmatched by any of the other competitors. He attacked the last four kilometers of the course seemingly as assertively as the first four. At the end, he bested the second place rider, Matias Medici from Argentina by 34 seconds and the third place rider, Louis Ferrao of Brazil, by 51 seconds.
Tuft celebrated his birthday in style with a fourth gold medal at these championships. He was stoked by this success as it was something he had wanted for awhile - a Pan Am Championship time trial win.
Zach Bell, who was the final starter based on his second place last year at the championships, also competed with a very strong showing, missing the elite podium by one spot. He was 5th overall behind the 4th place finisher, Jame Suaza of Columbia, the winner in the Espoir category. No doubt the past few days of excellent track racing took their toll on the legs but competing in the time trial contributed to Bell's Olympic preparation.
In yet another display of unexpected organizational juggling, all teams were informed yesterday (Thursday), that a decision had been taken at the Pan Am Congress to only allow two riders per country in the time trial - despite having published the start list. Canada was among many astonished countries who had not received this news and had to reduce their entries - thus David Veilleux did not compete.
Results
Men
1. Svein Tuft (Canada) 46.37
2. Matías Medici (Argentina) 47.11
3. Luis Amorim Tavares (Brasil) 47.28
4. Jaime Suaza (Colombia) 49.17
5. Zachary Bell (Canada) 49.44
6. Otavio Bulgarelli (Brasil) 50.04
7. Henry Raabe (Costa Rica)
8. Román Mastrángelo (Argentina) 50.13
9. Moises Aldape (Mexico) 50.26
10. Jorge Soto (Uruguay) 50.32
11. Miguel Direnna (Uruguay) 50.39
12. Rodolfo Ávila (Mexico) 51.13
13. Jose Sarmiento (Colombia) 51.05
14. Danny Morales (Guatemala) 52.31
15. Robinson Nuñez (Chile) 53.11
16. Raúl Bravo (Chile) 52.57
17. Hersson Jimenez (Costa Rica) 54.41
18. Jose Ragonesi (Ecuador) 54.57
20. Kurt Maraj (Santa Lucía) 1.00.29
21. Gino Hodge (Aruba) 1.38.00
Women
1. Madriñán Ana Paola (Colombia) 27.02
2. Giusseppina Grassi (Mexico) 27.11
3. Kori Seehafer (Estados Unidos) 27.13
4. Dotsie Bausch (Estados Unidos) 27.24
5. García Evelyn (El Salvador) 27.34
6. Valeria Muller (Argentina) 27.45
7. Verónica Leal (Mexico) 28.18
8. Daniely Garcia (Venezuela) 28.39
9. Laura Lozano (Colombia) 28.44
10. Olga Cisterna (Chile) 29.12
11. Silvia Sellanes (Uruguay) 29.13
12. Yumari González (Cuba) 29.33
13. Briceño María (Venezuela) 29.53
14. Bertine Kathryn (Saint Kitts y Nevis) 30.03
15. Adriana Rodriguez (Uruguay) 34.09
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Photo: Jenn Turner
Svein Tuft (Can)
Photo: Jenn Turner
Photo: Scott Kelly
Zach Bell (Can) during his TT effort.
Photo: Scott Kelly
Photo: Jenn Turner
Svein Tuft (Can), Zach Bell (Can) and Scott Kelly.
Photo: Jenn Turner
Photo: Jenn Turner
Svein Tuft (Can) warms up.
Photo: Jenn Turner
Photo: Scott Kelly
The men's TT podium: Canada's Svein Tuft (Can) wins gold
Photo: Scott Kelly
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