Nicholas Pilgrim made significant progress by finishing seventeenth of 55 at the Americas Triathlon Cup Montreal on Saturday.

Pilgrim, who was 66th in his previous race in Mexico on May 16 and was 39th in Montreal last year, completed the elite continental event in 54min 42sec. In a race won by Chilean Daniel Ubilla Sabada in 53:41, the Bermudian clocked 9:30 on the 750m swim, took 27:40 to finish the 20km bike ride and ran the 5km in 16:21.

“The race went well,” Pilgrim told The Royal Gazette.

“I had a good start to the swim and came out of the water in the front group. The bike ended up coming together as it’s a very flat and fast course, so not very easy for groups to stay away and there were a couple of crashes.

“I managed to stay within the front few wheels to stay out of trouble and managed to go near the front, then I had a decent run to come away with seventeenth.

“I would have liked to finish a bit further up but with not the best luck in the last couple races I was happy with how this one went and have gained some confidence going into the race in Chile next week.”

The 23-year-old is one of four triathletes from Bermuda who will be in action on Saturday and Sunday at the Americas Triathlon Championships Antofagasta, in Chile.

Olympian Tyler Smith, the juniors duo of Jackson Langley and Oliver Hayward will be the others flying the island’s flag at the event.