US riders Kristen Faulkner and Emily Ehrlich went one-two in the elite women's individual time trial on Tuesday to score the first two medals for Team USA at the 2026 Pan American Road Championships.
Faulkner blasted across the 31.4km flat course in 38:31, with Ehrlich 32 seconds back. Aranza Valentina Villalón of Chile finished 2:47 off Faulkner's time to take the bronze medal at the event, which is this year unfolding in Colombia from March 17-22.
The US duo accounted for three medals last month at the Pan Am Track Championships in Chile, with Faulkner winning two gold medals in the Individual Pursuit and the Team Pursuit – joined by Olivia Cummins, Bethany Ingram and Emma Louise Jimenez Palos – while Ehrlich also added the silver medal in the Individual Pursuit. It was the first time Faulkner had returned to track competition since the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
The South American track and road races were the season debuts for both Faulkner and Ehrlich in 2026. Last year Ehrlich, who rides for Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28, also won the silver in the Pan Am ITT but was 27 seconds better than Faulkner at that year's USPro Road Championships to earn the national title.
Faulkner's gold medal extended Team USA's streak in the time trial to four years for the elite women, with Amber Neben winning in 2023 and 2024 while Ruth Edwards took the title last year. Other gold medals handed out on Tuesday went to Maitê Coelho of Brazil, who won the junior women's time trial, and Jose Posada, who took a win on home soil in the junior men's ITT.
The Pan American Road Championships continue with the U23 Men and Elite Men competing next in the time trial discipline on Thursday, March 19. Racing goes through Sunday in Montería, Cordóba, Colombia, with the road races held the final three days.
A circuit in Cereté of 13.4 kilometers per lap will be used for the road races. Elite women race Saturday across nine laps for 120.6 kilometres. Elite men use a 12.9km circuit in Montería, for 16 laps and a total of 206.4 kilometres.
