Marlies Mejias

Havana, November 22 (RHC)-- Cuban cyclist Marlies Mejías continued her successful comeback to competitions, winning this weekend the Tour de Tucson, in the United States, in search of recovering the places she once conquered.

"It was a nice experience in Tucson, Arizona, I am grateful to Team Twenty24 for the great opportunity, for not letting my dreams die. There is still a lot to learn and train, but I am happy, I know that wonderful things are still to come," said Mejías on her Facebook profile.

The Cuban made her debut in a competition with a rich history, in the 38th edition, disputed over 102 miles, an appointment of 6,715 competitors in distances from 100 to 0.25 miles (160 to 0.4 kilometers) through the Californian city of Tucson and the five adjacent mountain ranges, according to the website of the Pan American Cycling Confederation (COPACI).

Mejias, who chose the men's sprint pace, finished in 3:59.22 hours, just over a second ahead of American Veronica Ewers, while fellow local Paige Boldt took bronze (4:16:20).

The men's finish was so close that only four tenths of a second separated first and second place, so it took more than 30 minutes to determine the winner: Mexico's Gerardo Ulloa (3:57:44 hours), followed by Americans Josh Rinderknecht (3:57:45) and Johnny Corcoran (3:57:45).

Winner of five gold medals at the Veracruz 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games and eighth Olympic place in the omnium at London 2012, Mejías had been out of competition for about three years after a maternity leave.

Last August she won the 20-kilometer time trial race at the Pan American Road Cycling Championships in the Dominican Republic.