A devastated Zoenique Williams has hit out at bumbling race officials for cruelly preventing her from competing in the time-trial event at the Pan Am Games.

The Bermuda cyclist was left perplexed and frustrated after being told just hours before Wednesday’s race that her bike did not comply with regulations.

It was too late for Williams and her support team to make the required alterations, having already made one minor adjustment at the request of the officials who inspected her bike the previous day.

Williams insisted that the extra adjustments to the height of the seat and position of the handle bars could have easily been made had she been provided with that information at Tuesday’s pre-check.

“The day before the race my bike was pre-checked by officials and required one minor adjustment to comply with the regulations,” said the 30-year-old.

“On race day my bike had to be checked again and we were told it didn’t comply with the regulations and we had to make different adjustments.

“It was impossible to make those adjustments because I would have needed different parts for my bike, which we did not have. It was extremely disappointing because if they told me this the day before I could have met their requirements.”

Williams has vowed to put her time-trial misery behind her and refused to let it affect her preparations for tomorrow’s road race at Ontario Place.

“I was stressed and extremely disappointed to not be able to participate, but now I’m focused on the road race,” she said.

Williams’s team-mate Dominique Mayho was also forced to make alterations to his bike and did at least make it to the start line. However, he struggled with the late adjustments and withdrew from the race after one lap.

Carlos Lee, the Bermuda chef de mission, said Mayho was concerned he may have injured himself had he tried to complete the race.

“The seat adjustments required by officials to comply with their interpretation of the UCI [International Cycling Union] code left [Mayho] in an extremely uncomfortable riding position, which put him in danger of injuring himself.”

Peter Dunne, the Bermuda Bicycle Association president, who did not travel to Toronto, said: “When the team is back we will review what happened and determine what needs to be done in the future to avoid similar outcomes.”