With a new team and a new city behind him, Zach Bell has taken some big strides in his performances over the past season.

Now based out of Burnaby, B.C. and racing for top North American team Symmetrics, the Yukon cyclist continues to make waves on the international scene, competing in Word Cup races as well as the world championships.

Last week, Bell collected a silver medal in the individual time trial at the Pan American cycling championships in Venezuela. He also finished fourth, just missing the podium, in the points race during track action.

A three-time national track champion, twice in pursuit and most recently in the points race, Bell is now being described by some in the cycling world as a rising star on the road racing scene.

He completed the 40.4-kilometre time trial course in 50 minutes and 53 seconds.

'It was really important for me to get that result,' said Bell, in an interview after arriving back in Burnaby earlier this week. 'It gives my team and myself more credibility. It also demonstrates the broader range of ability I have.'

The time trial, explained Bell, is basically a race against the clock. He had raced in El Salvador earlier in the month, so he was familiar with a lot of his South American competitors prior to the event.

While the course was a little flatter than first anticipated, Bell said it helped him because the strong climbers weren't able to make up any time on him. That left him pretty confident going in.

'I went and rode the course the day before, so I knew it was going to be a good one for me.

'I didn't have a lot of pressure, because that race wasn't really my focus.'

Bell said he felt really strong the whole way through the course. Since it was basically 'out and back', he saw the other racers three or four times throughout the event, and was able to gauge where he was at. In the end, he said, it was just a matter of pacing.

'I knew from my form on track (earlier in the week), if I could just focus as well as I had been, I'd be able to crack the podium.'

Although disappointed he missed the podium in the event which was his main focus at the championships, the points race, Bell still felt he raced well. Fitness-wise, he said, he 'had all the tools', but he made a couple of technical mistakes.

'It's the nature of the race. It can get kind of complicated, especially at this event. They allow you to enter two participants per team and usually it's just one. Some of the other teams entered two, but Canada only entered one (Bell).

'I felt like I was definitely the strongest guy in the race, but I just had a real problem managing the teams who had two participants.'

Bell acknowledged he's still going through a learning process, in just his third year on the international scene and first year concentrating mainly on the points race. He's learning something every single time.

'(The points race) is probably the most tactical event on track, so it takes a lot of learning before you really own the race. I'm getting closer.'

Bell will continue to participate in both track and road cycling, although his focus on the time trial will be limited as he gets closer to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. With his podium finish in Venezuela, there's an outside chance he may get the opportunity to race in the time trial at the world championships, but it all comes down to the Canadian Cycling Association's selection process.

The CCA's selection process has been a source of controversy this season. The director of Bell's professional racing team, Symmetrics, wasn't happy with the way the sport body was doing things when it came to the Pan Am championships, so he actually pulled all of his riders with exception of Bell from the event.

Bell was given special permission to attend the championships, because they were an Olympic qualifier of sorts. It was the first event on the track where the athletes could collect points toward their final rankings for their Olympic teams.

'CCA and Team Symmetrics had a bit of a disagreement on how selection for certain events had been made,' explained Bell. 'It was complicated. Our team is the top ranked in North and South America, so for us to pull out was a big deal.'

With his performance, Bell was still able to score some important points for Symmetrics at the championships points which boosted his professional team into top spot.

Now, Bell and his Symmetrics teammates will travel to the Philadelphia area this weekend for a set of races known as the Philly Triple Crown. It's one of the biggest professional racing series of the season.

Following that trip, Bell will return to Burnaby and prepare for the national championships, which will be held the beginning of July. Then it's B.C. Super Week, another major event on the season schedule.

The Yukon athlete is also hoping to train in Australia for the winter, but is still looking for the funding to make it happen, as well as the place to do it.

'I'm going to have to stay strong throughout the year,' said Bell, adding he feels he's well ahead of where he was last season at this point. 'Had the Olympics been this year, I would have still made the selection. Being ahead of the plan is always a promising thing.

'I have better structure and a better plan this year.'

Kris Westwood, high performance program director for the Canadian Cycling Association, was recently quoted as saying Bell is in the best shape of his career.

Bell said a lot of the credit for his recent success goes to his teammates and the facilities in B.C., which have made him feel right at home.

'I'm in as good a situation as I could have hoped to be. There are a lot of resources here. A lot of the track riders have moved out here, so the training community is really strong. I'm just going to keep going.'