Vargas delivers Colombia's first gold in time trial; Mexico takes silver and bronze

Colombian cyclist Walter Vargas claimed the first gold medal for his country at the XXV Central American and Caribbean Games, dominating the individual time trial with a time of 47 minutes and 13 seconds. The event, held in the Parque Mirador del Sur, the largest green space in the Dominican capital, saw a strong showing from Mexican cyclists who secured the remaining podium spots.

Édgar Cadena took the silver medal, finishing more than a minute behind Vargas with a time of 48:59.68. Sebastián Ruiz completed the podium, earning the bronze medal with a time of 49:07.07. This marks a significant achievement for Vargas, who has previously won silver medals in the same event in 2018 and 2023.

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The wind was in my favor, I tried to regulate my times. The heat was very strong and the humidity too. I felt that because they extended the start of the test by 20 minutes, but the key was not to get excited, to go at my watts and make a good finish in the last lap.

The 34-year-old Vargas attributed his success to thorough preparation and a boost of confidence from his performance earlier this year at the Pan American Championship in Colombia. He described the challenging conditions, including strong winds and high humidity, which led to a 20-minute delay in the start of the race. Vargas emphasized his strategy of maintaining a consistent pace, focusing on his power output ('vatios'), and executing a strong finish in the final lap.

"The wind was in my favor, I tried to regulate my times. The heat was very strong and the humidity too. I felt that because they extended the start of the test by 20 minutes, but the key was not to get excited, to go at my watts and make a good finish in the last lap," Vargas explained to EFE.

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He comes very well prepared for this test, I think the confidence in what he had done this year in the Pan American Championship in Colombia this year also contributed.