Pursuit gold for Cataford

Alex Cataford rode to victory in the men’s individual pursuit at the junior Panamerican championships in Mar del Plata, Argentina, Thursday.

Cataford, from Ottawa, covered the three kilometres in 3:33.717 — about three seconds slower than his qualifying time the day before but easily good enough to beat Chile’s Felipe Penarola, who clocked 3:39.376.

Allison Beveridge of Calgary narrowly missed the silver medal in the women’s points race, which was won by Mexico’s Ingrid Drexel.

The men’s team pursuit squad of Kyle Buckosky, Aiden Caves, Emile Jean and Alex Cataford — riding together for the first time — qualified fourth with a 4:42 and improved that to a 4:38 in the final, but it wasn’t enough to beat Chile to the bronze. Mexico won gold with a 4:30.841.

Competition continues through Sunday.