Benosa, Jaroda best Pinoy finishers in Nuvali World Series qualifier

STA. ROSA, LAGUNA, Philippines--Alvin Benosa and Melissa Jane Jaroda emerged as the best performing Filipinos by finishing third in a field dominated by foreign entries in yesterday’s Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Cross Country Marathon (XCM) World Series quialifier at the Nuvali bike track.

Benosa, representing BMC Philippines, took third behind eventual men’s champion Milton Javier Ramos Gomez of Honduras-Intense Bikes/Go Pro and second placer Jerra Vatchatam Tawatchai of Thailand-Singha Infinite.

Jaroda, riding for Team Ground Zero, wound up No. 3 behind first placer Ilda Pereira of Portugal-Mozinho MTB/Martos/HRV and second placer Yazid Kuzmawati of Indonesia-Jabar Polygon.

Benosa, Jaroda and the other podium finishers thus qualified for the 2016 World Mountain Bike Championship in Laissac, France.

The top 20 finishers also made the cut in the qualifier which offered  $1,000 to the champions, $750 to second and $500 to third placers.

The UCI-sanctioned XCM event was part of the Nuvali Dirt Weekend, which is one of the country’s premium mountain biking events held yearly at this 2,290-hectare Ayala Land estate boasting of a dedicated bike and running trails.

This edition also marked the first time that a strong international contingent that included riders from Spain, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Indonesia, Thailand, Honduras, Portugal, France and Singapore have participated.

“This is the first time that Nuvali hosted a UCI World Championship Series event and it has been a great honor for us to serve as venue where Filipino athletes can showcase their talents,” said Nuvali general manager John Estacio.

“Nuvali is dedicated to developing world-class athletes, specifically mountain bikers through the annual Dirt Weekend program,” he added.

UCI race director Geoff Kronenburg was impressed with Nuvali.

“We chose Nuvali as host because of their expertise and high standards in setting up a mountain bike event in terms of race technicalities, safety and logistics. This year, the race course has been amped significantly to give qualifiers a taste of what’s to come at the 2016 championship race,” said Kronenburg.