The Pan American Road Continental Championships opened Tuesday in Panama with Amber Neben winning gold in the elite women's time trial; the 48-year-old Neben edged out Chile's Arantxa Villalon, while Paris-Roubaix winner Allison Jackson took bronze for Canada won the bronze medal for Canada.

Neben won time trial titles in 2012 and 2018, and this is her third gold medal at Pan Am. Neben is a two-time time trial world champion (2008, 2016) and his career spans 20 years.

The continental championships are an important qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics. There are only 88 slots for men and women combined, and they are allocated based on the national UCI road world rankings of the year before the Olympics.

The U.S. currently ranks sixth behind France and Belgium in the ranking of countries with more than 1,000 points. Neven's 70 points would close this gap.

On Wednesday, the elite men will take the time trial stage, with former World Tour rider Miguel Angel Lopez, 29, leading the gold medal contenders.

Lopez was fired by Astana and filed a complaint with CAS claiming wrongful dismissal. He is a member of the Continental team Medellin-EPM in his native Colombia and dominates the regional circuit, winning the Vuelta a San Juan and the national-level Vuelta al Trima. His second place at the Vuelta Bantrab was due to his finishing in the same time as teammate Oscar Sevilla.

Lopez is the reigning Colombian time trial champion and looks to be in contention for victory at Pan Am. He has recorded several reconnaissance rides of the time trial course on Strava.

"I've been on a number of time trial rides, including Alto de Palmas in Medellín, Alto de Choach in Cundinamarca, Alto de la Virgen in Guarne, and Alto del Kilometre 18 in Cali.