Tolentino pushes for Philippine track cycling in UCI

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino laid the ground work for the country’s active return to track cycling during the International Cycling Union (UCI) 193rd Congress during the weekend in Zurich.

A brand-new UCI-standard indoor 250-meter velodrome is on the rise in Tagaytay and is expected to be operational early next year and negotiations with the UCI, including with the international federation’s president, David Lappartient, have started in earnest.

“The UCI provides support to all its member nations and I’m glad that with the velodrome in Tagaytay City, the Philippines could kickstart its return to active track cycling,” said Tolentino, who is also the president of the national sports association for cycling, PhilCycling.

The support, Tolentino said, would come through the UCI’s Solidarity and Emerging Countries Commission and Program.

Tolentino also established deeper links between the UCI and Southeast Asia, particularly with his Indonesian counterpart, Raja Sapta Oktohari.

Tolentino, Oktohari and Lappartient are presidents of their respective national Olympic committees and cycling federations, with Lappartient announcing his candidacy to become the next president of the International Olympic Committee to replace Thomas Bach, who’s bound to retire.

“The opportunities to continuously link PhilCycling not only with the UCI but with the rest of the world were present on the congress floor,” said Tolentino.