June 4, 2006 (São Paulo, Brazil) — Here are live reports of the Men’s Road Race from the CCA’s Kris Westwood at the Pan Am Championships in Brazil.

The men’s 169km road race at the Pan Am Championships has started. Five Canadians are competing – Dominique Rollin, Eric Wohlberg, Bradley Fairall, Ryan McKenzie and Svein Tuft.

Lap 1
At the end of lap 1 the men’s peloton is together with all Canadians present.

Lap 2
At the end of lap 2 Ryan McKenzie got up the road with two Colombians and a Brazilian. The gap is about 20 seconds.

Lap 3
At the end of lap 3 the gap from the break with McKenzie to the peloton is 1:10.

Lap 5
At the end of lap 5 (100km to go) the break of four Magno Nazaret (BRA), Ryan McKenzie (CAN), Jairo Perez (COL), Manuel Medina (VEN), had 1:25 on the peloton. Argentina and Chile are leading the chase, but are starting to lose riders. The four other Canadians are comfortable in the peloton.

Lap 6
At the end of lap 6, the gap is now 1:20

Lap 7
Same break, the gap is now 1:15

Lap 8
The gap to the break of four has opened up at the end of lap 8 to 1:35. All 5 Canadians still look comfortable with less than 60km to race.

Lap 9
The race is starting to shake up in the last 45km. At the end of lap 9 the same four riders, including McKenzie, were still up the road, but less than 40 seconds behind was the front half of a peloton splintered by a big attack. Canada’s Wohlberg and Rollin were both in this front group, which absorbed the break within the first 4km of lap 10. The second part of the peloton, with Tuft and Fairall, is about 40 seconds back.

Lap 10
The Brazilian team has timed its effort perfectly, putting five riders in a group of 10, now 40 sec. ahead of Canadian Dominique Rollin, who is trying to bridge, and 49 sec. ahead of the remains of the front half of the peloton, which includes Wohlberg. Tuft and Fairall are still in the latter half of the peloton, more than 2 minutes down.

Final Lap
One 14km lap to go for the elite men. The break has shattered, with two Brazilians and a Colombian in the lead, a solo Brazilian behind, followed by a group of five riders. Eric Wohlberg is attempting to bridge across to this group and sits currently 40 sec. behind them in 10th, with a shot at the top five. A minute behind Wohlberg is a group of 10 that includes Dominique Rollin, who is racing for 11th spot.

Eric Wohlberg managed to salvage 10th place with a solo move in the final lap in a road race dominated by the Brazilians – but won by a Colombian in a 3-up sprint. Next Canadian was Rollin in about 16th. These results should qualify Canada for two starters at the 2007 Pan Am Games..