WITH the Olympic gold medal set firmly in sight, Southeast Asian Games Triathlon gold medal winner Nikko Huelgas wants to improve every aspect of his game. Wanting to become a better rider he will try to join the 2018 LBC Ronda Pilipinas.
Huelgas joined almost 400 cyclists who vied for 38 slots which are up for grabs during the 180-kilometer road race that started in front of the Tarlac Provincial Capitol and ended on a mountain top at Monasterio de Tarlac yesterday.
Another qualifying race is set to unreel October 21 in Danao, Cebu, where 38 more spots are up for grabs.
Huelgas is preparing for the World Cup late this year, the 2018 Palembang Asian Games, the 2019 SEAG in Manila and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 26-year-old has a somewhat eclectic career. He is the Chairman of the National Athlete’s Commission, a motivational speaker, a commercial model and an entrepreneur.
Brothers Daniel Ven and El Joshua Carino of the Philippine Navy pulled off a one-two finish while teammate Ronald Oranza came in third in the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2018 qualifying race.
The younger Daniel Ven, who will turn 19 on Oct. 13, and the elder El Joshua, 24, held hands approaching the finish line and checked in at four hours, 11 minutes and 21.2 seconds to split the first and second place prizes worth P30,000 and P20,000, respectively.
Daniel Ven, who finished fourth in this year’s edition topped by another Navyman Jan Paul Morales that seeded him straight to 2018 race, towed El Joshua into the seventh staging of this annual cycling spectacle staking a cool P1 million top prize courtesy of LBC, Versa Radio, MVP Sports Foundation, Petron, Mitsubishi, Standard Insurance and Quad X.
“I just want to help my brother to qualify,” said Daniel Ven in Filipino.
Other big-name riders made it through. They include Julius Mark Bonzo, Goerge Oconer, two-time Ronda champion Santy Barnachea, 2013 Ronda King Irish Valenzuela, Marlboro Tour champ Warren Davadilla and old guards Merculio Ramos, Alfie Catalan and Sherwin Carrera.
There were some rookies too like Joshua Mari Bonifacio, who came out of nowhere to finish fourth in 4:14:16.
Young guns Jemico Brioso, Warren Bordeos, Jonel Carcueba, Ismael Grospe, Jr. and Ronnilan Quita likewise advanced.
LBC Ronda Pilipinas project director Moe Chulani said it was successful race considering that almost 400 riders, which included Southeast Asian Games triathlon gold medalist Nikko Huelgas, have joined.
“This was probably the biggest one-day qualifying race we’ve held because we’ve attracted about 400 riders and we even rejected some,” said Chulani. “This was made more promising because more than half are first timers.”