Cuban cyclist Marlies Mejias unbeatable at Panamanian competition

HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 1 (ACN) With victories in the first two stages of the RPC Radio Classic in Panama, Cuban cyclist Marlies Mejias, who competes for the U.S. club Twenty 24, leads the standings of the traditional race between professional clubs in the continent.

At the start on Wednesday, the Cuban won in a 60-kilometer section, on a rainy day in which the Mexican Alfredo Rodriguez won among the men, according to the website of the Pan American Cycling Confederation (COPACI).

The following day, in a full speed finish, Mejias repeated his victory, this time after completing the laps of a night circuit in the touristic Calzada de Amador, where the Colombian Bryan Gomez dominated among the men.

According to COPACI, the Cuban rider easily won the sprint over Venezuelan Lilibeth Chacon (Merquimia Team) and Costa Rican Milagros Mena (Construccion Colono-Bike Station), while Colombian Milena Salcedo (Merquimia Team) came in fourth.

Mejias, after becoming a mother on August 19, 2019, gradually began her competitive return, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, before which she also dedicated herself to making protective masks to donate to those facing the disease on the front line, during her stay in Havana.
Due to the delay in receiving her visa, she could not represent Cuba last September in the 100th edition of the World Road Cycling Championships in Belgium, where Arlenis Sierra achieved a historic fifth place.

Last August, Mejias was Pan American champion in the individual time trial in the Dominican Republic, where she later won the national mountain bike championship, and also in August she won the emblematic Tour de Tucson, contested by more than 6,000 cyclists in different categories, over 100 miles in Arizona, United States.