Conor White stunned the region’s leading cyclists by winning a gold medal in his first event at the Pan American Track Championships.

White, who was competing at a major international event in the Velodrome for the first time, launched a solo attack with six laps to go and held off the field for glory in the Men’s Scratch Race, beating Grant Koontz from the United States into second with Akil Campbell, from Trinidad & Tobago, finishing third.

The 40-lap, 10km race was contested by some of the biggest countries in the region, with the US, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia all fielding riders in the 17-strong event.

But it was debutant White who shocked the arena in a time of 11min 32sec after clocking an average speed of 52.023kmh and just minutes after his victory he spoke to The Royal Gazette about his momentous achievement.

“I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet,” White said.

“To come to my first race and pull out the win is surreal. I was thinking about the race earlier and trying to work out how I could win and pull off an upset, and how I thought about pulling it off is exactly what I did.

“Becoming a Pan American Champion is amazing. I’ve won gold medals at the Caribbean Championships before but to hear the Bermuda national anthem playing out at these championships is huge.”

In the city of Santiago, one of the more active earthquake centres in the Americas, White caused a seismic shock of his own when breaking away from the field to beat Koontz, who had represented the United States at the Olympics in Paris in 2024.

“I’ve raced him before and he’s been to the Olympics, so for sure he was the strongest guy in the race,” White said.

“But he let me get away and that was his mistake. It’s great to beat him and the other guy on the podium, Akil Campbell from Trinidad, I’ve known him for years so it was pretty cool to be on there with him as well.”

After making the crucial escape, White was in the enviable position of knowing he had the gold medal in the bag with more than a lap to go.

“There was a moment where the pace lulled about six laps to go and I tried a little attack, figuring it would be chased down immediately,” he said.

“But no one chased me and I fully committed thinking I’m either going to win the race or get caught and come tenth, so I was surprised to stay away, but I knew with about three laps to go that I had it.”

Having beaten the best the region has to offer in his first attempt on the track, White now knows that he will be a marked man for the rest of the championships, in which he has four more events to try to make the podium.

“Being an unknown on the track definitely helped a bit but I won’t get that treatment anymore this week.” he said.

“I’ve got four more events to go and I’ve set a pretty high bar for myself. I have the Individual Pursuit tomorrow and I’ll try to hit a time good enough to make the finals and go for another medal. If I don’t, I’ll do the Points Race.

“There are some really quick guys here and I have no idea how I’ll stack up, but I’m just going to keep going out there and giving it my best.”

Peter Dunne, president of the Bermuda Bicycle Association, was coaching the next generation of talent when White blitzed his way to the island’s first cycling gold medal at a continental championships.

“We have never had a continental champion in cycling and Conor’s achievement is amazing,” Dunne said.

“It’s a huge accomplishment for him but also testament to the talent that we have and our programme.

“This is not just a random thing, Conor has proven that we have this capability and the dedication our athletes show continues to get rewards.

“On a personal note I’m super excited for Conor and he has a good future in front of him on the track. He made this his goal and look at him go.”