Sin wins bronze, Plaxton silver in Pan-American Games mountain bike races

Canadian national mountain bike champion Max Plaxton finished seventeen seconds in arrears of winner Hector Leonardo Paez of Colombia today at the Pan-American games in Guadalajara, Mexico. The rider from Victoria grabbed silver in the elite men’s race while American Jeremiah Bishop rolled in 1:12 after Plaxton to complete the podium. Derek Zandstra of Trenton, Ontario completed the five laps of the 6.2 kilometre course in 8th.

In the elite women’s race Amanda Sin of Collingwood, Ontario took the bronze to American Heather Irmiger’s gold and Mexican Laura Lorenza Morfin’s silver. Canadian national under-23 champion Mikaela Kofman from Toronto finished right behind teammate Sin after four laps of the tricky loop that survived Hurricane Jova relatively intact.

Even before competition began Saturday, three Games athletes tested positive for doping, including mountain biker Kelvin Gonzalez of Puerto Rico coming up positive for EPO.