May 6, 2008 (Montevideo, Uruguay) – Three Canadians are currently in Uruguay racing in the road and track events at the 2008 Pan Am Road and Track Championships. Earlier in the week Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) captured gold in the individual pursuit. Tuft and team mate Zach Bell will race the Points race today, before competing in the Madison on Wednesday.

The two riders will also compete in the time trial on Friday (May 9) and the road race on Sunday (May 11). They will be joined in these two events by U23 rider David Veillieux (Kelly Benefit/Medifas) who will race the Espoir events. Bell will be looking to improve on his silver medal performance in the time trial at last year’s championships. The Canadian team is being managed at these Pan Am Championships by BC coach Dan Proulx, who sent us an account of the Scratch race scheduling fiasco debacle, and Tuft’s winning Pursuit ride.

Note: We mentioned earlier about rumours that the Pan Am’s might serve as a last chance to qualify riders for the Beijing Olympics. After some extensive examination regarding the qualifying procedures, it appears that a number of countries are holding out hope for wild card nominations based on merit or circumstance.

While the official quota of berths has been allocated, there remains a slight hope that wild card selections may be issued if teams or riders demonstrate that they have merit that was previously overlooked. For example New Zealand rider Catherine Cheatley may be eligible to receive a wild card selection, as she missed most of this season with vascular surgery after a podium performance in the Points race at the 2007 Track World Championships. Two-time defending Olympic Madison champions, Australia, is also another strong candidate for a wild card selection for that event.

While the hopes of receiving a wild card selection are relatively slim, many of the riders competing at the 2008 Pan Am Road and Track Championships will be looking for standout performances to improve their case if opportunities arise.