May 13, 2010 (Aguascalientes, Mexico) – Dotsie Bausch (Irvine, Calif./ATF Empire Coaching Systems), Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif./American Track Foundation) and Lauren Tamayo (Asheville, N.C./Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty 12) set an unofficial new world record in the three-kilometer team pursuit on their way to winning the gold medal in women’s event at the Pan American Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico on May 12.

Their time of 3:19.569 is nearly two seconds faster than the previous record of 3:22.552 set by New Zealand’s Rushlee Buchanan, Lauren Ellis and Alison Shanks at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships on March 25th of this year. With that time, the newly formed American women’s team pursuit became the first to break the renowned 3:20 mark.

“There are fantastic team pursuit programs all around the world and it’s an honor to be considered one of the best,” said USA Cycling Coach Benjamin Sharp. “Our qualifying ride was a little shaky but we knew we could go faster. Of course it was a disappointment to be so close to the world record in the qualifying round but, it was also confirmation to be so close with a less-than-perfect performance. I am immensely proud of this team. The riders, the coaches and the staff should all be very proud of what they have done over the past eight months.” 

Official word on the status of the record is pending from the sport’s international governing body, the UCI, but as a continental championship run under UCI rules confirmation is expected.  

The trio’s podium appearance marks the seventh medal and fourth gold for the USA Cycling squad at the Pan American Continental Championships. Also in today’s competition, Cody O’Reilly (Santa Barbara, Calif./Echelon) won the silver in the men’s scratch race.

Stay tuned to www.usacycling.org for more U.S. team results from the Pan Am Continental Championships.