Barbadian cyclist Joshua Kelly finished in the peloton of the Men’s Elite road race which was the culmination of the week-long 2023 Pan American Road Championships in Panama.
Sunday’s grueling test of endurance and speed saw only 75 of the 108 starters finishing the race as the cyclists also battled high temperatures on the 204.8 kilometre course.
The lone Barbadian in the event, Kelly finished 45th as the peloton sprinted for the lower positions after an eight-man break away had earlier battled for the top spots.
The eventual winner was Canada’s Pier-André Côté who outsprinted four other riders to win in 4:47.53.
Less than 32 seconds later the 41-rider strong peloton finished to fight it out from 9th down.
After the race Kelly took to his Instagram page to describe the race.
“Long hard and very hot race today. Lined up once again for Barbados and I did my best to represent. Outnumbered to say the least but I played it as smart as possible with the goal of crossing that finish line in the best position.
“I hope races like this gives the athletes of the Caribbean the motivation they need because today we were the minority but with some hard work from the upcoming athletes and an increase in support from our system, I believe the Caribbean can be ‘IN CHARGE.’ The highest caliber of athletes in these championships in many, many years and we were up there. My day will come I know it,” Kelly said. (CG)
