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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, July 16, 2015 | 4 Thrill quickly turns to heartbreak for Oakville triathlete Kyle Jones Freak accident knocks 30-year-old out of Pan Am race by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff Kyle Jones salutes the crowd after being introduced prior to the Pan Am Games triathlon Sunday in Toronto. The 30-year-old Oakville native was later knocked out of the race when his bicycle tire was punctured by a cone that had been hit by another competitor. | photo by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog moving sale 50-75% off reg. price Select items only! SOuth Oakville CentRe Skyway Jewellers · Thomas sabo · men's sTainless sTeel jewelleRy · uMBRa · Waxing PoeTic · all WaTches limiTed QuanTiTies By all accounts, Kyle Jones had done everything he could to be ready. Racing for the first time since breaking a bone in his back in March, the 30-year-old felt confident in his preparations for Sunday's Pan Am Games triathlon. "He came up to Guelph (three weeks ago), just to confirm his fitness level," said Craig Taylor, the head coach of Triathlon Canada's regional training centre. "He ran a 5,000 (metre) and it was fast -- faster than even he expected. He was on track and to have that kind of speed so soon after his injury, it just speaks to the years he's put into his training." But that training couldn't prepare Jones for the events that unfolded Sunday on the CNE grounds in Toronto. Riding with the lead group on the second of six laps on the bike course, the Oakville native who now lives in Milton was knocked out of the race by a freak accident. "One of the athletes went off the course on the other side of the cones and when he tried to reenter the course he touched one of the cones and it kind of shot right at my front wheel and punctured the tire immediately," Jones said following the race. "I kind of lost control a little bit but I was able to stay up, which is, I guess, the one good point of it, but the bike was pretty much unrideable. It was the second race in a row that Jones found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. The last time Jones raced was in New Zealand in late March. As Jones This is a race I've had on my radar for a long time... it is hard to take right now. rode his bicycle down a hill at 45 km/h, the rider ahead of him fell. Jones flipped over him, landing on his back. He suffered a fractured sacrum -- the bone just above the tailbone, threatening his chances to compete, or to be at his best, in Toronto. Sunday, despite a three-and-a-half month layoff, Jones showed his training leading up to the Pan Am Games had paid off. "Kyle looked calm and confident before the race," Taylor said. "He had a really good swim and was well positioned." Jones was 13th out of the water after the swim (an omen, perhaps?), just 12 seconds behind the leader, Mexico's Irving Perez. He was then among the lead pack of riders on the Kyle Jones bike until disaster struck. Oakville triathlete "I was directly beside (Jones)," said Andrew Yorke, who was the top Canadian, finishing seventh. "I think one of Chilean athletes -- it wasn't his fault, you can't see -- there was a cone and he hit it and it must have fractured into a sharper piece and hit (Jones) tire and instantly I heard the sound of the tire deflating and it was just like `Ahh.' For Jones, who had just missed the podium with fourth-place finishes at the Pan Am Games in both 2007 and 2011, being forced out of the race was especially disappointing in Toronto, where he won last summer's test event on the course. "The day was done earlier than expected. I'm just really disappointed," he said. "This is a race I've had on my radar for a long time and (with) family and friends and everyone here today, it is hard to take right now." -- With files from Michael Gregory Our Services · Massage · Acupuncture · Reflexology · Chinese Massage · Fertility Acupuncture · Physiotherapy · · · · South Oakville Centre · 1515 Rebecca St. · 905.469.0520 www.skywayjewellers.com 1395 Abbeywood Drive, Unit 14, Oakville Open 7 days / week