Ruth Edwards earned her first victory of the season on her debut at the individual time trial at the Pan American Road Championships. The 31-year-old US rider set the best time, 34:44, just 10 seconds better than fellow Team USA rider Emily Ehrlich. Teniel Campbell of Trinidad and Tobago was the only other rider with a sub-35-minute ride, finishing 44 seconds behind Edwards.
Two dozen elite riders competed on the relatively flat 24.8km course around Punta del Este, located on the south-east coast of Uruguay. Two-time Colombian time trial champion Diana Peñuela finished fourth, and Aranza Villalón (Chile), who was on the podium the last two years, finished fifth.
Edwards, now 31 years old, last competed at the Pan American Road Championships 10 years ago in the junior-level road race in Toronto, going seventh.
"I think my last Pan Ams was the Pan American Games in 2015, which has me lol because. Well. Time is funny. And 10 years ago feels silly. Happy to be here with USA Cycling and do some bike racing," she posted to Instagram.
She later won the US Pro road title in 2019 before retiring from a seven-year pro road career in 2023. She remained competitive on a solo commitment with off-road racing in 2022 and 2023, winning Chequamegon MTB Festival and going second at Leadville Trail 100 MTB.
Since returning to the Women's WorldTour with Human Powered Health last year, Edwards has earned two podiums at the Tour de France Femmes and won the GC title at Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour.
Ehrlich added the silver in her first Pan-Am road appearance to the two gold medals she earned at the Track Pan-Ams earlier this month, winning the Individual Pursuit and teaming with Olivia Cummins, Bethany Ingram and Reagen Patishall to win the Team Pursuit for Team USA.
"This year's Track Pan Am Championships was all about process and learning for me. Going to a country for the first time, learning to acclimate, train, prepare, and execute was my goal," she said in a statement release by her trade team Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28.
"In the individual pursuit, I am learning to appreciate the new 4km distance, and believe I have a lot of upward potential in the discipline, on top of my experience in time trialling and pacing, I believe it suits me very well."
In Uruguay, on Wednesday, the tandem of Edwards and Ehrlich continued the success of US riders in the time trial, now with gold or silver medals 19 times in the past 25 years. The last two consecutive titles were dominated by Amber Neben, who has a total of five ITT Pan-Am wins.
The Pan American Road Championships continue Thursday with the individual time trial races for under-23 and elite men, also held in Punta del Este across 39.3 kilometres.
