Pinoy riders foreign stints imperilled

The national cycling team’s buildup for this year’s Southeast Asian Games hit a snag after PhilCycling’s request for funds to finance its participation in two events in Thailand and Indonesia was denied.

"I don’t know what happened, we submitted our request as early as two months ago," said PhilCycling secretary-general Mar Mendoza, referring to the National Thailand Track Championship set Aug. 12-19 in Chang Mai and the 11th Asian Mountain Bike Championship scheduled on Sept. 21 in Bali.

Mendoza said it was the Philippine Sports Commission which agreed to shoulder the plane fare for the Bali event, although the funds would come from the First Gentleman’s Foundation through Pagcor which promised P3 million training funds for RP riders.

Mendoza said he has already discussed the matter with PhilCycling president Bert Lina and the possibility of funding the foreign stints themselves but the former Customs chief said they have no money.

"Hindi namin kaya," said Mendoza.

The absence of international exposures, Mendoza added, could drastically affect the country’s chances in the biennial meet slated Nov. 27-Dec. 5 in key venues in Metro Manila, Luzon, and Visayan cities Cebu and Bacolod.

Next to track and field, aquatics and shooting, cycling is a rich gold mine for the local bets since it stakes a total of seven golds — eight in the track events and four in mountain bike.

Mountain bike provided two medals in the 2003 Hanoi SEAG courtesy of Eusebio "Eboy" Quinones (gold) and Maritess Bitbit (silver).