From: Lesley Tomlinson/Rocky Mountain-Business Objects
Rocky Mountain Business Objects rider Max Plaxton topped off an incredible season with a Gold medal at the Pan Am Championships. This follows a brilliant performance in Rotorua, New Zealand at the 2006 World Championships, where Plaxton won the Bronze Medal for U23 men.
"I wanted to win this race so badly, as I took the silver as a junior in 2002 and the bronze in 2005," said 21 year old Max Plaxton (Victoria, BC), who finished first in the men?s U23 competition. "It was pretty hard for me in the first couple of laps, but after a while I succeeded in catching the leaders and I passed them. I soon got a lap ahead and I was feeling better on every lap," added Plaxton who also said he did not suffer that much in the oppressive heat thanks to drinking a lot of water.
Following a very successful cycling season (2006 U23 National Championships silver medalist and Worlds bronze medalist), he will now focus on "not biking at all" and getting some rest.
The U23 men started two minutes behind the senior men on the same course in the Pan Am Championships. Max caught and passed all but the Gold medal winner in the senior men. This performance undoubtedly showed he would have been in contention for the overall win as he beat almost the entire field, in spite of a 2 minute handicap.
Max will continue to compete in major World competitions such as the World Championships, in the U23 category for the 2007 season. He will be in contention for selection to the Olympic Team for Canada in 2008.
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