RP cyclists see rough ride in medal quest
September 9, 2001 | 12:00am
KUALA LUMPUR (Via Globe Telecoms) — The national cyclists, whose association was as badly shattered by leadership differences as the basketball association, are in for a rough ride against the better prepared Indonesians and Malaysians who have expanded and modified the format in some events in hopes of gaining the overall title.
Given the go signal to prepare for the SEA Games last January but stalled in their training after two factions of the Philippine Amateur Cycling Association fought for the body’s leadership, the national cyclists may not be the most prepared team ever sent to a SEA Games competition.
They have not competed in Malaysia’s Tour de Langkawi, the proverbial probing ground for road racers after the Marlboro Tour was scrapped in 1998. All the exposure they had was the Asian Championships this year, with the rest of their training period spent at home while their leaders were quarreling since February over the right to lead the association.
Despite all these internal problems, national coach Bart Flores, who was given the tacit approval by both factions to go ahead with the training of a national team, is confident his wards could win a gold or two in the road or track events for men.
"We are not promising any gold but we hope to do good in the road race and tracks," said Flores.
Competitions start Sept. 11.
Victor Espiritu, the 1996 Marlboro Tour champion, and Arnel Querimit, silver medallist in the recently held Asian Championships, provide the backbone of the Filipinos’ campaign in the road race.
Espiritu will compete also in the 4K individual and team pursuit along with Paterno Curtan, Lloyd Renbante, Paulo Manapul, Alfie Catalan and Wilson Blas.
Flores is also banking on a relatively new figure — Manapul — whom he expects to win a medal in the eliminations race, a new event introduced this year in the Asian championships and adopted for the first time in the SEAG. The event allows all riders to start at the same time, with the last rider in each lap eliminated until only two remain in the race to dispute the gold medal. Manapul finished second to a Japanese in this event in the Asian championships.
The other event which is making its debut is the Madison event, where two riders are paired for the race, with only one to ride for a lap or two until he decides to allow his teammate to take over. The process is repeated until the race is over.
Flores said the new formats could favor the Malaysians, who have trained their men and women riders both on the tracks and on the road where the games will be held.
The Malaysians in particular will be banking on sprint sensation Josiah Ng to win the gold in the tracks.
The Indonesians, the defending champions, will parade the comebacking Nurhayati, who swept all five gold medals in the Indonesian SEA Games in 1997. She went into semi-retirement when she married teammate Henry Setiawan but claims she, at 31, is as strong as she had been when she won all five golds in 1997. - Gerry Carpio
Given the go signal to prepare for the SEA Games last January but stalled in their training after two factions of the Philippine Amateur Cycling Association fought for the body’s leadership, the national cyclists may not be the most prepared team ever sent to a SEA Games competition.
They have not competed in Malaysia’s Tour de Langkawi, the proverbial probing ground for road racers after the Marlboro Tour was scrapped in 1998. All the exposure they had was the Asian Championships this year, with the rest of their training period spent at home while their leaders were quarreling since February over the right to lead the association.
Despite all these internal problems, national coach Bart Flores, who was given the tacit approval by both factions to go ahead with the training of a national team, is confident his wards could win a gold or two in the road or track events for men.
"We are not promising any gold but we hope to do good in the road race and tracks," said Flores.
Competitions start Sept. 11.
Victor Espiritu, the 1996 Marlboro Tour champion, and Arnel Querimit, silver medallist in the recently held Asian Championships, provide the backbone of the Filipinos’ campaign in the road race.
Espiritu will compete also in the 4K individual and team pursuit along with Paterno Curtan, Lloyd Renbante, Paulo Manapul, Alfie Catalan and Wilson Blas.
Flores is also banking on a relatively new figure — Manapul — whom he expects to win a medal in the eliminations race, a new event introduced this year in the Asian championships and adopted for the first time in the SEAG. The event allows all riders to start at the same time, with the last rider in each lap eliminated until only two remain in the race to dispute the gold medal. Manapul finished second to a Japanese in this event in the Asian championships.
The other event which is making its debut is the Madison event, where two riders are paired for the race, with only one to ride for a lap or two until he decides to allow his teammate to take over. The process is repeated until the race is over.
Flores said the new formats could favor the Malaysians, who have trained their men and women riders both on the tracks and on the road where the games will be held.
The Malaysians in particular will be banking on sprint sensation Josiah Ng to win the gold in the tracks.
The Indonesians, the defending champions, will parade the comebacking Nurhayati, who swept all five gold medals in the Indonesian SEA Games in 1997. She went into semi-retirement when she married teammate Henry Setiawan but claims she, at 31, is as strong as she had been when she won all five golds in 1997. - Gerry Carpio
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