MEDELLIN, Colombia — Clara Hughes clinched a berth in the UCI world championships on Sunday with a win in the road race at the Pan-American cycling championships.

It was the second gold medal of the competition for the two-sport star who returned to cycling this season after finishing her decorated speedskating career.

Hughes, of Glen Sutton, Que., finished the 96-kilometre race Sunday in two hours 23 minutes 52 seconds. She crossed the line more than a minute ahead of her nearest competitor, Evelyn Garcia Marroquin of El Salvador.

“It was an epic day. . . . We had a plan as a team to win the road race today and I am so proud of this victory for Canada,” Hughes said in a news release.

“It was hot, hilly and gruelling, and I was cramping up really badly halfway through the race. I ate and drank as much as I could to make the cramps go away and kept thinking ‘you can’t lose this race for the team.’

“It gave me a lot of strength and motivation knowing my teammates were working hard behind. It was a team victory and I’m satisfied but exhausted. I’ve never cramped up in a race and had to go through that kind of pain.”

The world championships are set for Copenhagen, Denmark, in September.

Garcia Marroquin was 1:18 behind Hughes and American Theresa Cliff-Ryan led the chase group across the line to win the bronze, 6:53 behind the winner.

Montreal’s Joelle Numainville, Denise Ramsden of Yellowknife, Heather Logan-Spenger of Madoc, Ont., and Winnipeg’s Leah Kirchmann were all part of the chase group and were classified in fourth, sixth, eighth and 10th, respectively. Karol-Ann Canuel of Amos, Que., was 25th, 7:03 behind Hughes.

Hughes already has six Olympic medals to her name — a pair of bronze in cycling from the 1996 Games in Atlanta and a gold, a silver and two bronze in speedskating spread over three Winter Games between 2002 and 2010.

On Friday, she won the time trial at the Pan-American championships.