Lloyd snaps 15-year-old cycling mark

MANILA, Philippines - Lloyd Lucien Reynante shattered the 15-year-old mark in the 40km road race ITT (individual time trial), clocking 58 minutes and 22.55 seconds in the ITT Koten Unification qualifying races in Balayan, Batangas yesterday.

Reynante bucked the tough, challenging course from Balayan to Lian and then in Calatagan and a talent-laden field to break the one-hour record held by Domingo Villanueva in Australia 15 years ago.

Tomas Martinez, Reynante’s teammate in the 7-11 by Roadbike Philippines, finished second, crossing the finish line three seconds later.

But since Reynante and Martinez have already qualified for the RP team in the track competitions last week, the third and fourth place finishers – Irish Valenzuela (+12 secs.) and Reynaldo Navarro (+1:08) – clinched the Asian Games berths in the ITT event.

“The decision has been made by the unified board that different riders will compete in the track, road race, mountain cike, and BMK events,” said PhilCycling executive director Jojo Villa.

“We want our national riders to focus on one discipline to avoid burnout during training,” said Integrated Cycling spokesman Arsenio Tado. 

The unification races are supported by Taiwanese Electrical Leader Koten Enterprises, in cooperation with Philippine Olympic Committee, the Philippine Sports Commission, PhilCycling, Integrated Cycling, Coca-Cola, Powerade, Viva Mineralized Water, Zen Skin Institute, 7-11 By Roadbike Philss, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and Grace of Shekinah School in Sta. Maria Bulacan.

Meanwhile, the five-day qualifiers will culminate with the 150-km road race massed start firing off in Tagaytay City and ending at the International Convention Center in Mountain Resort City.