Cycling still reeling from internal strife

GUANGZHOU – The Filipino cyclists are riding back to Manila without a medal to show, many of them unsure of what road to take as the leadership issue in the cycling association continues without a solution in sight.

The PhilCycling Association under Philip Ella Juico will conduct national tryouts on Dec. 5 to determine the national team that will compete in the Le Tour de Pilipinas next year.

The same association under Tagaytay Mayor Bambol Tolentino will conduct a separate tryout on Dec. 6 for the same reason.

The Tolentino group is recognized by the Union Cycliste International, which gives cyclists license to compete abroad.

The Juico group is recognized by the Philippine Olympic Committee, which approves the participation of cyclists in the SEA Games, Asian and Olympic Games and funds the training and participation of cyclists abroad.

But the irony of it all is that cyclists cannot compete abroad without a license, issued by the UCI, and they cannot compete without funds, released by the POC-PSC.

And a cyclist cannot be a member of both.

Faced with having to make a choice, some national players have sided with Tolentino and the UCI because a license allows them to compete abroad.

Other players choose Juico and the POC because they get the chance to compete abroad at no cost.

“I have already decided to join Mr. Tolentino’s group because I need a UCI license to compete in international tournaments,” said top road race rider Maritess Bitbit.

However, Bitbit may no longer receive allowances because she is not a member of the PSC-POC backed group.

This unresolved rift also never guarantees the choice of the best candidates for the national team because the best athletes of one group may not be competing in the tournament of the other group.

When the PhilCycling conducted tryouts two months back to select the national team to Guangzhou, the results were not honored by the PSC, which picked athletes of its choice to represent the Philippines.

Those who competed in Guangzhou are not the best, according to the Tolentino group, as shown by the results of the Philippine participation.

On the tracks, John Renee Mier finished 25th while George Oconer finished 27th and last in the men’s point race, Apryl Eppinger was ninth and second to the last in women’s 500m time trials, Bitbit seventh in the 80 laps with 8 sprints.