THE stars of Philippine cycling descended in Subic as they vie in the PhilCycling National Championships for Road, which fires off today with the massed start race on an out-and-back course in Subic and Bataan.
Led by Marella Vania Salamat, Marc Galedo and the ageless Alfie Catalan”•all former Southeast Asian Games gold medalists”•the races in the men and women elite, under 23 and men junior will flag off at 9 a.m. from the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center.
The men’s race will cover 138.27 kms marked by a treacherous 7-km climb on an average 7 percent gradient atop the Dambana Ng Kagitingan giant cross on Mount Samat.
The women’s race, on the other hand, will be staged simultaneously with the men and will cover 96.55 kms of circuit racing inside Subic.
“We are expecting a tough race considering that the courses for both events are technical,” Race Director Ian Alacar said.
The races are highlight the PRU Ride PH 2018, a cycling festival staged annually by Pru Life UK.
Pru Life UK Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Allan Tumbaga led the ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday at the SBECC with top-ranked Filipino-American female cyclist Coryn Rivera gracing the occasion.
Rivera will ride behind the race column as part of her training for 45 races she is set to take part in this season.
She is one of the world’s foremost women elite riders, having won the Tour of Flanders in Belgium last year and leading the US team in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
The event is sanctioned by the PhilCycling headed by its president, Tagaytay City Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and Chairman Alberto Lina and will award the winners the coveted national champions’ jerseys.
The individual time trial on Saturday, on the other hand, will test the men on a 30.12-km route and the women on a 21.94-km distance.
The national championships will conclude with the Criterium races on Jan. 21 at McKinley West in Taguig City.
Also joining the fray is Ariana Domingo, a two-time Southeast Asian mountain bike champion who is testing her strength in the road discipline and former Tour champion Santy Barnachea, George Oconer, Ronnel Hualda and Junrey Navarra.